Moonlight Raven
by xUnicornsRulex
Summary: The death of Itachi meant Sasuke was the last Uchiha.But when war breaks out between the Hidden Villages and the Akatsuki Naurto and his friends will discover a hidden secret in the blood of the Uchiha.After 17years, a dark turth will be revealed.
1. THE ATTACK

**The Attack**

The area that was surrounding them was covered in nothing but complete darkness. It was the middle of the night. There was suppose to be a full moon tonight but the ghostly clouds in the sky covered the Moons sliver surface, so light couldn't get through. This gave a group of hidden leaf ninjas an advantage for their silent attack. Everything was quiet, expected the hidden leaf village's very own number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja.

"Well, we've got a plan. Let's go already!" Naruto shouted impatiently, as he stomped around the campsite, trying to release some of the frustrated energy that was coursing through the blood in his body. This ended up with an annoyed Sakura – the medical ninja on team seven- punching him on the head.

"Naruto you idiot, this mission depends on tiredly on surprise," Sakura hissed at the young blonde rubbing his sore bump that had suddenly appeared on the top of his head. "You shouting your head off is going to ruin everything!" She screamed, Naruto couldn't help but feel unjust since Sakura was doing the opposite of what she had just said. Their sensei could only shake his head as he watched his two students. He was surprised that they hadn't been attacked half an hour ago with this two having a go at each other every five minutes. The only reason they had not started the plan yet was because they were still waiting for Sai, Yamato and team 8 to come back. Their mission was to attack the enemy supplies, so the enemies' food would run out quicker and hopefully cause some damage to the enemy. Team eight had gone off to do some surveillance work with Yamato and Sai as backup in case something went wrong. The mission had not started off well when Team Kakashi found out they were paired up with team eight. Naruto had been trying to stay away as far as he possibly could from Hinata without hurting her feelings. Ever since Hinata had admitted she was in love with Naruto there had been tension in the air. But he had to admit, despite the tension Hinata and Naruto had down well in working together. Rustling came from the brushes suddenly put Kakashi sense on alert, until he realised the charkas signals. Seconds later Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Yamato and Sai jumped silently out of the trees. Naruto and Sakura had still not realised that the others had come back, since they were still too busy arguing. Sometimes I wonder how these two have survived being ninjas for this long. He left the two to continue arguing, as he quickly talked to Yamato. He carefully listens to the information to see if anything in his plan needed changing. After listening to the information his teammates had collected, he was satisfied with what he heard and knew his plan would work.

"Ok..." He started, waiting to get Naruto's and Sakura's attention before he continued, "everyone knows what their jobs are, let's get to work." Everyone gave a quick nod before jumping up into the air. The team had been split into three groups. Group one consisted of Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi, their group was to create a diversion, while group two (Shino, Kiba and Yamato) poisoned the food in the storage house. Group three consisted of Sakura and Sai, who were to hide in the trees and provide backup if the plan went wrong. Kakashi believe that Kami was on their side tonight because the darkness provided excellent cover for their plan. He always said that having luck was just as important as having the proper skills in a ninja's life. Kakashi shook the silly thoughts out of his head. Right now he needed to focus on the bloodshed that was about to take place.

Naruto forced all his might into not making himself move further away from Hinata without hurting her feelings. Things had been strange ever since Hinata admitted she was in love with him. Since then every single moment that wasn't focused on the Akatsuki or becoming Hokage he had been re-thinking about his relationship with Hinata. Sure he loved her because she was a close friend and he would be forever thankful for it but he just wasn't in love with the girl. He knew he needed to tell her at some point that they would only be friends and he would be forever grateful for it but he was too scared of offending her. Relationships are hard, Naruto thought to himself. The static in his ear piece made him remember he still had a mission to complete.

"Naruto are you ready?" Kakashi hissed into his ear through the headphones. He looked at Hinata quickly who gave him a firm nod.

"I and Hinata are ready Kakashi." He answered, turning away from Hinata and waited for the signal to be set off any moment. Seconds later a fiery explosion began to burn through one of the enemies' warehouses where they kept the weapons. Naruto did a quick hand seal and summoned ten shadow clones before he and Hinata jumped out of the brushes. They needed to drag as much as the enemy away from the food storage so group two could poison the food without being detected. The enemy was upon him in seconds but their skills were nothing compared to the future Hokage –and Hinata's gentle fist technique- they needed to get to Kakashi, so they could regroup and get the hell out of here. Naruto and Hinata battle continuously through the battle field to reach the warehouse, blood strain their clothes and on the ground as they fought. A huge smiled spread across Naruto when he saw a flash of his sensei silver hair running towards them.

"I just got news from group two," He breathed, when he reached the two teenagers. "Their mission was successful and they are now waiting with Sakura and Sai." Naruto smiled grew even bigger. Now all we have to do and run like hell out of here and kick anyone's asses if they get in our way. Naruto laughed to himself. This was going to be easy. All three of them ran as fast as they could to their other team mates. It wasn't as easy as Naruto thought through. The enemy skill level was no match to the three leaf shinobi, but there was just too many of them. Every step they took three men would attack them at the same time. It was starting to tire all of them but they didn't dare call in there other team mates in case things were made worse. They would only call their friends in if it was a death deciding decision. We're almost there, Naruto deliberated to himself as a throw a kunai into a man's throat. He was getting fed up with how slowly this was getting and was trying to tell his mind it would all be over soon.

"Naruto watch out!" Hinata cried out suddenly. Naruto was too busy fighting off to other men to really take in what she said at first, until he felt one of his shadow clones disappear and its last memory flashed into Naruto mind. Shit! Some one's going to attack him from behind. But he couldn't defend himself in that direction because he was too busy fighting off the other peoples on his other sides. "Naruto!" Hinata yelled. Fuck! Naruto thought as he pushed the other guys away and turned to face the other person running towards him. The man was running towards with a sword aimed right at his heart. Naruto swiftly grabbed a kunai from his pouch ready to deflect the blade. Suddenly a blur appeared only a step away from Naruto. It was too quick for Naruto to make out what had just happen. He only knew that whatever this guy did; just sent the other guy flying across the ground. For moment, it seemed that time had stopped, as the hooded figured turned to face Naruto. Naruto could not make out the persons face, except the blood red eyes; the Sharingan. Naruto could only stare back in shock. The dark figure turned and ran off in the opposite direction. Naruto finally managed to snap his head out of his confusion and began racing after the figure.

"Sasuke!" He shrieked, racing after the cloaked figure that made an escape into the forest that surrounded them. You won't escape me this time Sasuke, Naruto cursed. Blue eyes flashed an dangerous red, as Naruto's rage built up inside him.

Hearing the name of one of his ex-students Kakashi quickly sprang around from the man he had just sliced into a million pieces to see Naruto running after a clocked figure. Damn it! He thought. He rapidly switched on a button on his microphone.

"Sakura, Sai, Yamato!" He shouted down the microphone.

"About time Kakashi, it looks like things are getting quite heavy down there." Sakura snapped back at him. She didn't mean to really but she hated being held back when her team need her. She knew Kakashi was only using logic, since she was the only medic on the team and was valuable to the teams' survival.

"No Sakura. I and Hinata are fine here," Sakura froze at Kakashi order, if they didn't need their help why was Kakashi radioing them. Her question was soon answered. "Just send Shino and Kiba to help us, you and the rest need to go after Naruto." Go after Naruto? She wondered, looking beyond the battle just in time to see something orange flash into the trees. What the hell is he doing? She quickly shouted to the others what the plan was and rapidly went after Naruto.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted again, as he jumped from tree to tree. He didn't care that he clothes creating small tears in his clothes as he increased his speed because the branches were like claws trying to grab him and rip him apart. But no matter how much power he used into making himself go faster the figure in front seemed to get further and further away from him. This was it, he thought. He was finally going to break every bone in that bastard's body and drag it kicking and screaming back to the village. He stopped, closing his eyes and slowing his breathing. All of a sudden his eyes snapped open but his normal eyes had been replaced with toad looking ones; meaning her had used his senjutsu. He knew he was going to need every single droplet of power he had to take his old teammate down. Racing ahead again his speed had increased more than before, as twigs snapped and leaves ripped at the incurable force of speed he was using. A sudden glimpse of light coming through the trees caught his attention. He looked up into the sky quickly to see the clouds had moved, allowing the Moon's light to glow the surroundings around him; giving the forest an enchanting feeling. Slowly, as Naruto draw closer to the small speck of light he began to make out a clearing in the forest appearing up ahead. As he got closer he could see that Sasuke had stopped right in the very centre of it. So he finally decided to stop and face me then, Naruto laughed to himself. He sent a little bit more chakra into his feet to help him jump faster towards the clearing. Like the skilled ninja he was he somersaulted into the clearly and landed gently onto the ground. He didn't move a muscle towards Sasuke, he wanted to give one last chance and try and talk Sasuke into returning to the village on his own free well. He knew it was hopeless but he had to try. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak the figure body suddenly burst into a million ravens, the cries piercing the silence of the dark night, disappearing into the ghostly shadows. I've faced this before, Naruto reflected, remembering the time he encounter Itachi whose body disappeared into a million ravens as well. It's only an illusion. A feeling of pain reached up Naruto arm; looking down, he noticed that one of the ravens has scratched him on the arm. Illusion or not those buggers' claws stun like hell. He began randomly throwing his kunai at the birds but they easily dodged them. He needed to come up with some plan and fast. However, he wasn't fast enough, as the ravens began circling closer and closer to him. He head began to feel dizzy, making him want to fall asleep. No! He shouted at himself, he quickly placed his hands together. Release! He cried, as he tried to dispel the genjutsu but it didn't work. Release, Naruto tried again but it still didn't work. I have no choice; I'll have to shut down my charka and then get free of this attack so I can get into sage mode again. As soon as this idea popped into his head, Naruto felt his body being wrapped up. Losing his balance he braced himself as he fell onto the floor. He wrestled with the bonds that restrained him. This had to be some kind of illusion, there's no way a rope can just appear out of thin air. Slowly lifting his head up to see Sasuke turn back into his original form. "You coward, stop using your illusions and fight me like a real man!" Naruto snapped, as he continued to struggle with the bonds.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." The voice made Naruto snap his head back to the cloaked figure that stood in front of him. That voice... but that doesn't sound like... if it's not that means... His thinking was interrupted when a pink flash emerge in the corner of his eye. Sakura suddenly came jumping out of the trees and slammed the floor with one of her chakra infused punches. The ground explored open, forcing anyone in its range to jump out of the way. Thankfully for Naruto it was not aimed in his direction. Sai jumped down next to Naruto and began cutting him lose. Naruto had just got back to his feet when Sakura went flying past him and bashed into the tree behind them.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled, as she run over to her. Sai went off to help Yamato who was getting battered effortlessly by the cloaked stranger. Sai took the katana from his back and swung it at the enemy but was blocked by another katana. Sparks flew as Sai battle with the enemy, the swords bashing together as one blocked and one attacked. During this fight Sai released two things. One was that this person was a talented swordsperson. Two this person didn't want to attack them or him at least. The enemy had plenty of opportunities to seriously injure him but didn't take any of them. He quickly jumped back to gain some safe distance. Quickly throwing his arm out to stop Yamato attacking the conceal figure before them. Yamato gave him a funny look but Sai ignored him.

"Who are you?" Sai asked, placing his katana away to show he was only trying to be friendly. The fighter said nothing however and stood in a fighting stance with their katana out and ready.

"I believe he asked you a questioned." Naruto stated as he and a pissed off Sakura came to a stand next to Sai and Yamato. When he saw the eyes Naruto had been so hell bent of believing this figure to be Sasuke that he didn't take in the dramatic difference in height and the persons fighting style; they had a similar style in the art of genjutsu but had the stranger had a completely different taijutsu method compared to Sasuke. But when he heard the voice, he began to believe that this person might not be Sasuke after all. The figure stood in his stance for a few moments before slipping their katana back beneath their clock. Slowly, two pale hands reached up to the hood and pulled it back, revealing a pale face, with delicate features, a soft pink mouth, raven black hair that tumbled down the persons' back and bloody red eyes that held the Sharingan.

"My name is Anju." The girl stated calmly, as team sevens mouths dropped wide open in shock and wonder.


	2. THE SHARINGAN

**The Sharingan **

All four shinobi could only think of one thing at that moment when the hooded figure revealed themselves. What the fuck? They all thought. For some unknown reason that existed somewhere in another distant universe they were staring at someone - who was not Sasuke – with the Sharingan. No one could believe it. Someone that wasn't Sasuke or Madara had the Sharingan. Not to mention the person was a girl. They probably would have stood like a solid statue in shock for the rest of their lives, if the static from Yamato's headphones didn't crack through the tension in the air.

"Yamato! Have you found Naruto yet?" Kakashi voice cried out of the radio. Not taking his eyes off the strange girl that stood only a few steps away from him, Yamato click the switch.

"Roger Kakashi, but you might want to get over here." There was a silent pause before Kakashi replied.

"Yamato, what's going on? Did something happen?" Everyone could hear the concern in Kakashi's voice, which was unusual since he was well known for keeping calm in worrying situations. No one had ever heard the concern in his voice before; he must have thought something really bad had happened to one of them to be in a panic. Yamato thought quickly of what he should say before answering.

"Everyone's alright Kakashi but you might want to meet someone." He would have told Kakashi who it was standing in front of them but he had know Kakashi back in his ANBU days and he knew that Kakashi wouldn't believe in this if he didn't see it for himself. Heck! He was having a hard time believing himself and he was staring right at the person. Suddenly the person in front of him disappeared, before he could account for what had happened and do anything he felt something sharp against his neck.

As soon as the man said someone else was coming to stare at her, Anju drew out her katana from beneath her cloak again. In a flash she vanished; suddenly appearing behind him, her cold metal sword held against his throat.

"Anyone moves and he gets his throat cut." She hissed to the three teens turned to face her, only just realising what had happened.

"Hey! What are you doing with Yamato?" The blond boy shouted, shaking his fist viciously at her. Anju couldn't help but roll her eyes at the boy's question. Wasn't it obvious what she was doing? The boy was about her age; he must have some brains. The pink girl stepped into a fighting stance. She knew from the expression on the girls face that the girl wouldn't attack unless she wanted to put her team mates' life at risk but Anju could see the girl needed to do something with her body to show she wasn't scared. Looking at the gear she was wearing, Anju could see why she needed to position herself. The pink hair girl was obviously a ninja from the leaf (according to the head band anyway) and to be a ninja you had to shut down all emotions, especially in front of an enemy. Apparently this girl needed some work. The black haired guy who had asked for her name only stood still, watching her closely. Despite all of these different reactions, Anju ignored them all completely, gripping her sword even harder.

"Why were you following me and why won't you leave me alone?" She demanded, pressing her sword a little harder against her captives' neck. She expected the yellow hair boy with the weird makes on his cheeks to answer. He nearly did but the pink girl interrupted him before he had a chance to utter a word.

"We weren't chasing you, we were chasing Naruto," She snapped and indicated to the blond boy, who only stared back at me with cold eyes. "And we can't leave you alone especially if they have the Sharingan ." At the girl's outburst Anju nearly loosened the hold on her sword after hearing that. She didn't know why but something about that word sent shivers down her spine.

"The sharing – What!" Anju questioned, her eyes focused on the pink kunoichi. The girls had quickly turned from a face of anger to a face of shock.

"You ... You don't know what the Sharingan is?" The pink haired gasped. Anju lifted one of her eyebrows up, not on purpose, it was a habit she had picked up from her father when she was confused, annoyed or both. At the moment she was both because she was confused by what the girls said and annoyed when someone held their mouth wide open like a fly trap. In this case, it would be because of this sharing- thingy or whatever it was called.

"Am I supposed to know what the hell a sharing- thingy is?" Anju asked. For some reason she began to felt stupid holding the sword to the guys neck, since she really didn't see the point of holding it there now and it wasn't like she was going to kill him anyway. Little by little, Anju moved the katana away from his neck and stepped back. "Whatever it is, I'm not interested, so I'll be leaving." She placed the katana back into her sheath and was about to leave when the blond boy, Naruto, shouted out.

"Wait!" Anju turned back to face him. The cold glint was still in his blue eyes but she could see something else hidden behind the hardness.

"I hope you're not going to try and stop me again, otherwise I'll just have to kick your asses." She growled, fed up with whatever was going on here. It was too confusing. She was annoyed that she had helped saved the guys life and what do she get in return? A cat and mouse chase and fights, which Anju had no intentions in joining. Damn dad for whipping the honour code into my skin, she swore. It was because of the code that she had helped Naruto out. She saw the guy about to attack Naruto from behind and it had got her really pissed off because she didn't like people who sneaked up behind people to win a fight. It was cowardly.

"Please we only ask that you wait for a moment so our team leader can ask you some questions." The guy who I had my sword too earlier requested. Not questions! Anju moaned to herself, it was too late (or early in this case, since it was about one in the morning now) to be asking her brain to deal with questions. She just wanted to go to bed and sleep. At that moment a yawn escaped her lips. She knew it showed weakness but she was too tired to really care. Besides, it's not like her father was there to scowl at her. Anyway she doubted these people were the enemy because they were just too weird but she didn't see them as friends either.

"Is there any possibility that we could discuss this after I've had a good night sleep first?" Anju yawned again. She was quite insulted that he didn't even consider the question when he answered.

"Sorry but I'm afraid we'll going to have to wait, until Kakashi gets here." Well, at least he's sorry I guess, Anju laughed to herself, as she unfasten her cloak and her bag and threw them on the floor. If she was going to wait, she might as well not have a fifty tonne bag on her back when she was feeling tired. Plus she didn't really need the cloak anymore; since she'd only put it on to help conceal her when she jumped through the forest. The only thing she still had on her was her katana and her Kyoketsu Shoge that was hidden under her long sleeves. Now that she had got rid of her giant cloak, the four shinobi could see that she wore an black top that showed off her stomach but covered her arms and black skinny jeans held up by a heavy metal belt, she also wore a blue Sari decorated in strange sliver symbols that none of the four shinobi recognised and leather gloves with metal plates on her hands, her hair was pinned up high, so her long hair flew in the wind. The boys –especially Naruto- could now see she had a very nice figure. One that could easily seduce any man if she needed to; however, this last fact was not known to Anju, given that she really didn't care about her figure and didn't pay much attention to it. She would admit she was a beauty but she would not go bragging about it because she thought it made girls look shallow. Whoever this Kakashi is, I hope he gets here soon? As soon as she thought of it, another rustle came from the trees and out jump four other ninja. One of them had a big coat on, covering every put of him expect a small portion of his face. Another one of them was sitting on top of a large white dog, a girl with long purple hair and violent pupiless eyes and the one in the middle had defying gravity, silver hair. That one must be Kakashi, Anju considered, since he was the oldest and had a leader feel to him.

"Yamato, what ..." He stopped when his eyes landed on her. Anju wasn't sure if he was shocked or had just suddenly frozen. His face was expressionless (because the mask was covering his face) but his lone eye were firmly gripped onto me. The tension was broken when dog boy shouted out,

"Wow, I never thought I would ever see an Uchiha babe in my life time." Kakashi punched him hard on the head at the comment.

"Should I be offended by that?" Anju asked the pink haired girl who was standing closets to her at this point.

"Offended by what?" She asked. Not understanding what Anju should have found offensive. Anju recited the word in her head again to make sure she was asking the right thing, so she wouldn't get the pink haired girl more confused.

"Uchiha? Should I be offended by it?" Anju repeated. She quickly noticed the tension suddenly start rising to a higher point that it would hardly go unnoticed from a five mile radiance. Anju didn't miss the silent communication between Kakashi and Yamato. I suddenly have a feeling that I should be running for my life right now, she mumbled to herself. "Look. I have no idea why you guys are so shocked to see me," She began to shout, wanting to just go to bed now, "or what the fuck a sharing-whatever you call it is but someone better start explaining because if I don't get my beauty sleep soon, someone's ass is going to be kicked from here to the other side of the world." Anju's demand seemed to trigger some kind of response because Kakashi finally decided to answer her questions.

"So you don't know what the Sharingan is?" Kakashi questioned. If I didn't I wouldn't have asked, Anju thought, but kept her mouth shut. "I'll show you." Before Anju could ask what he meant he lifted his hand to pull up his forehead protector that had been covering his left eye. My mouth dropped open. His eye was a bloody red, with three tomoe spinning around in it. He has the same eyes as me. Well, one of them anyway, Anju wonder to herself. She had never seen anyone with the same eyes as her before. "This..." Kakashi pointed to his bloody red eye, "is the Sharingan."


	3. THE UNWANTED CURSE

**The Unwanted Curse**

According to my clans' legends I should have never been born. It was written that seventeen years ago, on the first day of the golden dragon, a saviour would be born and drive our enemies away with the fury and grace in his deadly blows and then deliver us to the Promised Land that the angels pledged to us long ago. But instead I was born, cursing and screaming the war driven world I was delivered into. That night, my mother died and my people wept. Because I was born with strange red eyes and I was female. They claimed I was a portal of doom and I used to think they were right; until I met Kakashi. Anju snapped out of her dark thoughts and shifted her eyes to the group leader with gravity defying hair. She examined him carefully; well, the part where his headband covered his left eye. Despite the circumstances Anju was still having a hard time believing what he had told her. Apparently her eyes were a bloodline technique from the Uchiha clan that had been swiped out by one of its own. Now only two other members of this clan exist. Sasuke Uchiha (who Naruto had mistaken her for) who had turned traitor to the village hidden in the leaves and Madara Uchiha - who somehow survived five generations - now had this plan to take over the world. Kakashi asked if he could meet her clan leader, which Anju was dead set against at first because outsiders were not allowed inside clan grounds and other clan members would not be happy if she broke that rule. But then she thought the clan members can go to hell themselves since the clan hated Anju anyway and she wanted answers. So here she was, leading a group of total strangers to her clan campsite with no reason to trust them and no evidence. Anju was certain she would be thrown over the cliffs when her clan found out about this; literally. The sudden sharp snap of a twig caught Anju's attention, signalling the group to halt. Crouching low, she watched for movements in the shadows. A sudden movement caught her eye. Pulling a jewelled clip from her hair she threw the clip in the movement's direction, the only sound in the forest was the hair pin hitting a random tree in the distance, until a person walked out of the darkness; holding her clip in his hand.

"(Anju! What are you doing with this group of invaders)" The taller guard asked in a language that the Konoha ninja did not understand, chucking the clip back at her like it was poisonous to hold. However, the hidden leaf ninja could tell by the angry expression on the patrolman's face that they were not welcome.

"(What I do with strangers is none of your concern? I have brought them back for questioning)"Anju calmly answered. However, her reply only infuriated the guard even more.

"(How dare you talk to me like that, you're nothing but curse to this clan?)" He hissed at her but Anju wasn't taking any of his crap, especially today.

"(And you are nothing but a hypocrite, sneaking merchants into our camp to sell off your jewellery. At least my intentions are honourable and not behind the clans back.)" Anju spat back, earning herself a look of utter hatred as he glared kunais at her. Thankfully, Anju was use to these stares and as a result was unfazed by it. "(Continued your watch soldier, I have business to attend to.)" Anju commanded and signalled for the outsiders to continue forward. He gradually nodded and sank back into the shadows after he shot Anju another dirty look.

"He seems nice." Kakashi sarcastically commented, earning a small smile spread on Anju's face.

"Trust me when I say he's just the icing on top of the cake." Anju tried to joke but a bit of bitterness broke through her attempt to try and lighten the mood, causing the rest of the journey to continue in silence.

Naruto was using all of his might not to snap at the people that gave him and his team evil glares once they had entered the village. However, as time went past he began to realise that the glares were not directly on his team but on the girl; Anju. I know those looks, Naruto thought but he was not allowed to ponder on any longer because he noticed Anju indicating them into a giant white tent. The room consisted of a large table surrounded by a group of armed men looking at what looked like a map. The men were arguing, so loudly that he was surprised when Anju did a small cough that suddenly eight pairs of eyes were on them. At first their expressions were a mixer of shock but it quickly turned to anger. One of the men (who looked like he was the clan leader) spat foreign words that sounded similar to what they had heard the guard had said to Anju, who steadily answered. He could only understood part of the situation when Anju made gestures' at them and then at Kakashi's covered eye. As soon as she pointed to it a huge up roar erupted, the people around them started arguing and cursing at her until the clan leader shut them all up and calmly asked Anju something.

"He wishes to see your eye to know what I say is true." Anju asked Kakashi. Swiftly Naruto's sensei lifted up the head band protector, revealing a spinning sharingan. A moment of silence collapsed on to the council, until the clan leader sat back in his chair and rested his head in his hands in a thoughtful matter. Naruto's patience was beginning to reach the boiling point when the man finally said something to Anju. "My father wishes to speak to you tomorrow, he is very tired and has much to think about." Anju pleaded. Seeing the tiredness that was clearly displayed on Anju face and her faces; Naruto couldn't help but feel tired himself. Kakashi also saw this and decided it was a good idea since his team needed a rest. The leader suddenly barked something at Anju before sending orders to the man that stood near the door, which Anju was kind enough to translate. "Isas and Hiroshi will take you to your sleeping quarters, I will meet you later." Before anyone had a chance to protest the Konohagakure were swept away to their sleeping quarters.

Anju sat peacefully in her chair, as she watched her father pace back and forth mumbling to himself. She couldn't help but wonder if her father was going a little senile but there were times when brilliance would shine through, when he was able to come up with a brilliant idea in difficult situations –barely saving the skin of their teeth, looking at him now Anju ever wonder if anyone would replace the clan leader. The two main contestants were Tadashi and Surin. Tadashi was the best bet in her eyes because he was a strong warrior and when it came to making tough decisions he had always made the right ones. However, the clan would never accept him because when the council order him to kill Anju he refused, when Anju asked him years later he had reply 'I couldn't kill my baby sister; cursed or not." In fact he practically raised her –since no one else wanted to raise the child of doom- and taught her everything she knew. It had been hard for Tadashi for the first couple of months after her birth, since he had lost his second mother and had to raise an infant all by himself. But somehow they had both survived the physical and mental hardship they had faced. Surin on the other hand was a completely different story. Yes, Anju had to admit he was a good warrior (nothing compared to Tadashi's level) but he was arrogant, aggressive and narrow minded but he was the only blood relation to the clan leader that the clan liked; since Tadashi and Anju had been disowned – for reasons that were completely stupid and un-rational. Surin had always been jealous of Tadashi's natural born talents and even swore he would finish off the duty he was too weak to complete but two facts stood in his way: first was the fact that despite fallen out of his father's graces, he would never let anyone harm his first born and secondly, he was nowhere in Tadashi's league. Despite these factors Surin still held his threat to wipe Anju off the face of the planet, so one night when the whole campsite had been asleep, Surin snuck up to Anju homemade cradle one night when she was only a few weeks old and would of stabbed her in the heart. Thankfully, Tadashi had seen this plan coming and had set booby traps around the cot. When he had raised his sword above his head, Surin accidently set off one of the traps and ended up with a kunai going through his eye. Later on he would explain that he had been attacked by bandits to cover up his humiliation. He stayed away after that but his threat was never forgotten. A first slamming on the table broke Anju out of her deep thinking. Looking up she saw it was her father who had made the loud noise and was shaking with rage.

"How could you do this to me?" Her father suddenly yelled, unable to control his anger any further. Why was he so angry? Anju did not know. But then again she seemed to upset everyone just by breathing. Despite every nerve in her body to stop, Anju asked,

"What did I do to offend you?"Apart from being born, she thought. Before Anju had a chance to register what had happen, she felt something hard slam against her face; she didn't need a mirror to see she had blood dripping down her face. Staring back at her father Anju saw he was just as he was just as shocked as she was. It was not uncommon knowledge that he hated her but never once had he ever struck her. Shaking herself free of her shock, she bowed and left before any more communication could be past between them. He may have been a great leader but he was no good father. Hiding the bleeding cut behind her hand, Anju did not keep her promise to visit the team when she left the tent. Instead she tried to find solitude in her own made up camp for the night. It was nothing much since she had given her tent for Tadashi to use, since he was on a mission for the clan. The clan was poor but Anju group was the poorest since they had to share a tent between them. Her campsite consisted of a small camp bed and a tiny camp fire that consisted of a pot hanging over it. It wasn't until she saw the bed roll that she was reminded of how tired she was. Ducking behind a tree Anju changed into baggy t-shirt and shorts before stuffing her clothes into a rucksack and threw it at the end of the bed but kept her katana out and ready just in case. However, before she went to sleep she pulled out a mirror but instead of looking at her reflection she looked past it. Relaxing herself, Anju watched and waited as colours start to spin around the glass; forming new shapes and surroundings. The mirror now showed her a campsite with a young looking man with gentle grey eyes and raven black hair sitting as watchmen, while his comrades slept. He looked more like he was day dreaming then staying alert but his head slowly turned towards her direction and shot her a small salute and sleepy smile. Knowing that her brother was safe she let the vision disappear; turning back to her own reflection. She was also glad to see that her eyes had returned back to their usual dark violet. She had no control over her sharing-thingy and sometimes it would take days to disappear; leaving her exhausted. Pulling the covers high over her neck she snuggled into her little bed and fell asleep.


	4. COMMUNICATION WITH OUTSIDERS

**Communication with Outsiders**

Something wet and cold (like an animal's noise) rubbing against Anju's cheek woke her up the next morning. However, Anju refused to wake up, all the trauma from last night had made her feel broken and exhausted; plus, she really wasn't much of a morning person. Trying to avoid the thing that was trying to wake her up, she turned over to face the other direction. Someone's soft and gentle hand started caressing her bruised and swollen cheek and then a cool healing sensation sank into her skin, reducing the pain that had once been there. Slowly, Anju opened her sleepy eyes to see her older brother crouching beside her with a concerned look on his face. Before she had a chance to thank him and push his concern face away, a large black lion jumped on top of her and licked her in greetings.

"Eeeewwwww! Shadow, get off me!" Anju moaned as she pushed the oversized kitten off of her. A deep musical laugh came from Tadashi's firm mouth, making Anju truly smile; even though her face was dripping kitty salvia. One of the things that made Anju smile in the world was seeing Tadashi smile, since he always seemed to carry the whole world on his shoulders; it was nice to see him relax a bit sometimes. Once Anju managed to push Shadow off her Tadashi handed her some scrambled eggs and bacon. It was probably the smallest portion of a breakfast anyone would see but every bit of useable source they could find was sacred to them.

"Eat up; you've got a lot of explaining to do with the shinobi you brought here." He advised. Between bites, Anju repeated the whole story to him. How she had jumped into battle when she saw them greatly outnumber, how one of them had mistaken herself for someone else therefore followed her into the forest and Kakashi revealing his eye. During their interview, Tadashi sat calmly and listened to the whole way through. Shadow on the other hand got bored and left to find her mistress. "Sounds like you've been busy when I was gone." Tadashi forced himself to joke (since the situation was not a good one to exist in at the moment) not that he should be surprised; something always happened, whether he was with here or not.

"You know I get bored easily, I have to cause some mischief." Anju laughed back, causing another musical chuckle from her brother.

"Get changed, we're going to meet our guests." Tadashi explained, pushing himself off the ground. Letting out a deep sigh, Anju followed her brother's instructions and went behind the trees and walked over to the river to get washed and changed quickly. It didn't take her long to get ready, so it didn't take her long to rejoin her brother and was heading in the direction where their visitors were if Tadashi hadn't grabbed her by the shoulder. "Forgetting something?" He indicated, pointing to the sword on his back. Anju wanted so badly to defend herself, she wasn't a little kid anymore, she didn't need to be loaded with weapons all the time. But they had all these arguments before and right now Anju was in no mood, especially since they were in a good mood at the moment. Stomping back to her homemade tiny campsite she strapped the katana to her back before placing herself next to her brother again before making their way over to the strangers sleeping quarters.

"Where were you last night?" Naruto demanded as soon as Anju and Tadashi approached the campsite that was not only surrounded by the eight shinobi but by Tadashi's team mates as well. Shadow had returned to her mistress Jin, whose black Amazonian muscles gleamed in the morning sunlight and her golden eyes sparkled with amusement as she watched Hansuke, whose bright red hair and green eyes shined alive with fire, fighting with the dog boy shinobi who had the giant white dog, it sounded like they were arguing over food. Knowing Hansuke, the dog dude had insulted his love for pepperoni pizza that he had come to adore when the team had gone to explore the far west. I swear it's more than a curse then I am, Anju thought to herself, as she made her way closer to the group. She refused to answer the blonde's question since she thought it was very rude to shout at someone but then again, she guessed she deserved it, since she didn't meet them last night like she said she would. Instead, she just sat herself down next Jin, who shot her a quick smile before returning to pet her feline friend. Kiba large white dog, seemed t not like Shadow that much and stayed low, with his hair standing up and low rumble grows grew deep within his mouth. Shadow displayed the opposite effect, grooming herself and wagging her long slender tail round happily. The only people that seemed to show any sign of looking relax were Kakashi, Yamato, Jin and Tadashi, who went over to Hansuke and whispered something in his ear (probably threatening to give him toilet duty for the next few weeks) which made Hansuke instantly back down and apologise. This is too weird, Anju thought. The two groups stayed away from each other before they began to merge a bit. In fact it was Shadow who made the first move to make friends with the giant white dog. Sneaky a piece of meat out of Jin's bag, the giant cat walked over to the white dog and placed it in front of him. Akamaru sniffed the piece of meat curiously before eating it, wagging her tail in excitement; Shadow ran back to Jin and grabbed her play ball and took it back to Akamaru and began playing it in front of him. At first the large dog tried to take no notice but it didn't take long for him to be memorised by it, Shadow past it to him and Akamaru picked it up and handed it to Kiba. Taking the ball from his fluffy friend, he threw it. Before Kiba could realise his mistake both cat and dog kicked off and chased after the ball, knocking everything over in sight. They were both fast but Shadows flexibility gave her the advantage to get to the ball just a second quicker. Everyone could only stared in bewildment at Kiba who had mud dripping off him. Then, laughter cracked through the air, as everyone couldn't control themselves any longer at Kiba's condition. That's when everyone started weaving in to the new groups. The first group to form happened between Jin, Sakura and Hinata, who started talking about girly stuff which Anju didn't understand most of it. Then it was the boys and finally Anju little group consists of herself, Tadashi and Kakashi. They all sat in silence and watched the other groups, since they weren't the talking type.

"Anju you're humming again." Tadashi suddenly pointed out, snapping Anju out of her day dream.

"Oops sorry." Anju smiled back and turned back to watch the groups in front of her. She wished she was as good as communicating with people like Jin and Hansuke were. Hansuke was Tadashi best friend since they were young, so when Tadashi needed support against his father when he saved her, Hansuke was the first to leap in and back him up. Jin and Shadow didn't join the little group until a week later when baby Anju had been crying and the boys had no she why was upset, it wasn't until Jin had walked past, carrying fire wood to her families campsite that she suggested if they had tried burping her, after that when she felt the boys were being incompetent, she would take me and look after Anju herself. These people were the only family Anju had and she would do anything to protect them. Her group continued to sit in silence until Tadashi pointed out Anju was humming again. I've really got to stop doing that, Anju thought to herself. It wasn't like she had a horrible voice or anything (actually her friends had quoted that she had a very beautiful voice) but singing was a very important thing in her clan and if she got caught again she would be in serious trouble...

_Anju had just turned five and it was the same age that everyone began their warrior training. However, because of her background, Tadashi had been training her hard since the day she could walk and far exceed anyone in her class –even though her teachers were unwilling to admit it- one of the lessons she and all the other children were learning were the traditions: special dates, ceremonies and songs. When the children first started learning this subject Anju was forced to stay in the corner when the other children went into lines and sang songs. One day, Anju got up the courage to also begin singing; big mistake! She had been enjoying herself so much with the singing that Anju had not notice the entire room go silent. Even though she was an experienced warrior at the age of five, she was still a child and did not except what happened next. Out of nowhere, a hand slapped her around the face, making her scream out in pain and full on to the floor. From there it was utter chaos, teachers, assistants and students began a blood thirsty bombardment on to her, screaming at her and calling her names. Using what her brother had taught her, she escaped from some of the blows that hit her body and ran like hell away from the area, she ran so far that she had just reached the bordered for the land of lightening, until Tadashi and his time finally caught up to her._

A light tap on her shoulder caught her attention. Looking up she saw her brother smiling back down on her and holding out his hand out. Smiling, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly; Tadashi always seemed to know what she was thinking and how to cheer her up. Meanwhile, Kakashi was watching the scene from the distance. The bond between Tadashi and Anju was nothing he had ever witness – sure he had seen sibling relationships before but this was on a whole different scale. The truth to this observation is the fact that the brother and sister helped each other. Anju kept Tadashi from falling into a pit of loneliness, since the two people he had ever loved where dead and Tadashi offered Anju guidance and love. They both knew that they had each other's back no matter what. However, they could not say the same thing about their other brother. The sudden hiss and growl that had sent Shadow on to high alert made everyone break from their small conversations and turned to face him. Their questions were soon answered when Surin stepped through the brushes.

"Hello."His emotionless echoed through the area, sending chills down everyone's spine. Their brothers stone grey eyes held an icy coldness which was the complete opposite to Tadashi's liquid warm ones. The happy, comfortable air that had once surrounded this place had turned tense from the new arrival. Tadashi was the first to break the silence.

"(What do you want Surin)" Tadashi asked flatly like his younger brothers presence bored him. Despite his good acting skills, everyone could sense the tint of pure hatred behind it; even if the hidden leaf ninja couldn't figure it out what he had just said.

"(I only wanted to see our... special guest's.)" Surin sneered, his eyes dangerously moving towards the pink kunoichi and looked her up and down like he was examining a prize bull on sell. This action did not settle well with the other Konohagakure ninja who looked like they were going to jump and kill him any second; that is actually what Naruto attempted to do. He had always loved Sakura; she was one of his closest friends and to see this prick look at her like that. Before he could control himself, Naruto leaped on to his feet and charged towards the ungrateful basterd and was only one more step, until he felt something jerk him back. It took Kakashi, Yamato and Tadashi to restrain him from beating the crap out Surin. The middle child of the Tsukiko family smirked in amusement as he watched the blonde boy struggle between the three men; who stood solid to the spot.

"(Leave Surin.)" Tadashi grunted through his effort to hold back Konohagakure number one hyperactive knuckled headed ninja. Surin smirk only grew even wider. Just as he was about to make some kind of comment back, Tadashi cut him off. "(Leave. Now. Surin!)" Tadashi hissed, his usually soft grey eyes turning hard silver. Fear grew in Surin's eyes as he realised he had set his brother off. He left but not before he muttered something that only Tadashi seemed to hear and it shocked him to his very core.

Sakura was still trying to figure out who Anju was and what was she like. At first she seemed aloof and silent just like Sasuke but seeing her calm self with her brother began to make the pink hair ninja think differently about her. At first she had seemed mean and rude when they had first met her but then again they had attacked her out of the blue and mistaken her for someone else but today she had offered Sakura some of her own ink and paper when she had run out of it when she was labelling some of her medicines that she had been refilling. Back then she had not realised what the gestured had meant, until Jin explained how little their clan had and how precise every single of item a person own was. The stranger had not said much towards her or any of her team mates but she hadn't sent any hostile glares of feelings towards them either. To Sakura, it seemed like the girl didn't know how to mix in with new people like her brother and his team mates were. She had tried to get up the courage and try to invite Anju into their conversation but she wasn't sure how. This is complicated, she thought, taking a bite of her apple as she admired the small stream in front of her. Naruto had begun to drive her insane and she needed some time away from her best friend's loud mouth.

"Hello." A sweet voice spoke nervously; making Sakura jumped out of fright and turned to face the new presence with a kunai in her hand, only to find out it was Anju holding a pile of dirty laundry. "Sorry to scare you but I came down here to wash some clothes. You don't mind having a bit of company." Secretly telling herself off for getting herself worked up over nothing, Sakura smiled back at Anju and gestured to the river. Smiling back, Anju made her way over to the river and began cleaning the dirty pile of clothes. Regardless of the fact that Anju had hoped she wouldn't bother Sakura by accompanying her presence, nothing was said between the two girls for a long time until Sakura decided to break the silence.

"You don't talk much do you?" Sakura inquired. Anju felt her cheeks burn bright red out of embarrassment and she looked down. When she had met the strangers from the Land of Fire for the first time she had adrenaline running through her system and was in warrior mode but now that she saw these people as no threat she wasn't sure what to say or how to act around them.

"I'm sorry I'm not very good at talking to people." Anju admitted, continuing with her duty. The sound of movement made the disowned Tsukiko daughter to look up and see her female companion had taken some of the dirty clothes and began to help washing them. The silence between them continued for a long time until the washing was down. "Thank you for your assistance and I'm sorry about my brother Surin, he's a total dick." Anju smiled, as she folded up the clothes.

"It was no problem at all, thank you for lending me the paper and ink earlier." Sakura grinned back while placing the last piece of clothing on the small pile. Unknown to Anju a small bond of friendship had just formed between the Tsukiko warrior and the Cherry Blossom.


	5. THE DARKNESS OF THE CHI CLAN

**The Darkness of the Chi Clan**

Sakura found it hard to get Anju to start talking when they both finished the washing and made their way back to the girl group. She noticed that Tadashi's (Anju brother) eyebrows disappeared into his hairline when he saw how comfortable the two girls seemed to be together; strengthening Sakura's suspicions about Anju shyness. Nevertheless, with Jin's help, they managed to get Anju to speak freely among the group. Morning soon became afternoon and since everyone was busy talking, Tadashi took it upon himself to make lunch with the assistance of Kakashi (well kind of, he handed him something now and again but he was really to busying reading his book to take notice). The Leaf kunoichi was surprised to meet a man that could actually cook and not heat up some instant food for once. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed, until the sound of an ear-splitting war horn pierced through the calm environment. Before any of the hidden leaf ninja could take into account what was going on the Tsukiko members jumped up from their spots and dashed over to where the sound was coming from. The shinobi that were left behind quickly followed them, it wasn't long until they joined a large group of warriors gathering by their sides and racing towards the cliff side the camp was against, on one of the large boulders stood the leader of the clan organising his troops into motion. They followed the group of Tsukiko warriors past the other clan members and up the mountain side to where Anju father stood.

"(Get to the river! I need you lot to hold back the advance while we can get the troops together and the children out of the area!)" He ordered the young warriors. They all nodded and jumped up the cliff side until they disappeared in the sunlight. All of the Konohagakure ninja looked at each other; a secret message that only they could read ran across their faces and gave a firm nod to each other.

"What can we do to help?" Kakashi asked with the whole group standing behind him. The leader gave them a sour look but seeing how determined the strangers were and knowing he needed all the help he could get gave his orders.

"Follow Tadashi's team and give them assistance." He disciplined voice told the leaf shinobi. With a quick signal from Kakashi hand and the hold group followed their new friends over the cliff side.

Tadashi team ran as fast as they could towards the river. Sending more charka to their feet to make them fly through the air, bouncing off tree branches on to other ones. Adrenaline pumped through the veins as they made their way towards the river. The site before them was horrifying. Members of the clan that had already stayed to defend of the attacks were already out number by three to one and most of their friends were dead; their insides torn out and splattered around across the ground. Forcing their emotions to the back of their minds, they jumped into the battle field, crushing five of the enemies' attempts to kill their fellow clan members along the way. Tadashi cleared the way by using a fireball jutsu to blow all the enemies around them away. Anju lunged a kick at the enemies head who was about to eat a young shinobi that had just joined their ranks. The people that had attacked them were not human. The monsters faces were made of scales with lizards narrowed so they looked like they were sending death glares at you. His teeth were too large and sharp to stay inside his mouth; which was smothered with blood. The animal growled at her as she landed on the ground and raced towards her like an animal that had been starved for weeks. Anju eyes glowed red as the Sharingan appeared and drew the kyoketsu shoge out of her sleeves and began throwing them towards the beast, keeping the animals a distance away from her. Flickering one of them towards the beast the animal was to slow to dodge the chains that wrapped around its neck. Pulling it towards her the monster stumbled towards her as she pulled her other knife out and shoved the thing blade through the eye, right through his skull. Dragging the knife out of the monster and pushing the body away, facing the other opponent. This one was nearly upon her since she only just noticed it now but with a few hand symbols she quickly performed a genjutsu. As the animal was about to slash her stomach open, Anju's body burst into a hundred ravens. The all horde of monsters were distracted for a few moments when they noticed the huge flock of ravens diving into the air and wrapping a member of their strange into total darkness. Once the birds had disappeared all they could see was the monster friends had disappeared. Their distraction gave the Tsukiko clan the upper advantage as they drove into an attack. As her body began to form into a human again, three lizard warriors ran towards, hoping to take out this witch who had made their comrade disappear. Just as her body came solid again, a lizard person slashed his sharp claw at her. Anju just managed to jump back in time before it took half her face off. Dodging and diving, using her flexibility, Anju was able to fight her way out of the group of beasts and up into the air. Performing more hand symbols she used the water from the lake to perform a water release jutsu. Out of nowhere a water dragon appeared and hit the enemy full force, dragging them into the river. As she landed on her feet again, Anju saw another monster speeding towards her and prepared herself, ready to block the monsters advances. Suddenly, her vision of the beast was blocked when an orange blur appeared in front of her with a giant ball of energy swirling in his right hand.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto shouted, throwing the ball of energy into the beast stomach, sending the animal flying in the other direction. It wasn't long for two other animals to start racing towards him, but a shadow over came his vision as he looked up and saw Anju jumping over him; red eyes blazed with fierce fury. Naruto watched as she jumped on to the beat shoulders and then flipped off, slashing her kyoketsu shoge across their faces. The blades were so sharp that they sliced through the scales and deep into the flesh, stunning them enough for Anju to throw her knives into the chests of the reptiles were their hearts would be. The girls got moves! Naruto couldn't help but admire as she landed gracefully beside him. No emotion showed on her face (which didn't surprise the hyper ninja since she was a Uchiha after all whether she knew it or not) sending a quick look over to Naruto and indicated him towards his sensei and Sakura who's team work skills were unimaginably well time and effortless but they were being over loaded with monsters. Sending back a small smile, Naruto dashed forward feeling Anju just beside him. At the same time they jumped into the air and slammed into the body of a creature that was about to jump on to Sakura. As the battle raged on more and more bodies of the monsters began to fall on to the ground. Naruto and Anju stayed and fought together. They didn't know why they stay together but they seemed to be the perfect pair, working together in complete harmony, balancing each other's weaknesses and strengths. It seemed like an eternity before reinforcements arrived and with the immense force of the Tsukiko clan behind them the lizard people disappeared back into the forest or died fighting. The group of friends were victorious and Naruto couldn't help but let out a small cheer. However, the atmosphere went sour when the bodies of the Tsukiko entered the minds of close friends and comrades. No one cried as people assembled into groups and began taking the dead back to the camp. A sad expression covered Naruto and his friends' faces as they were the dead being carried away. Not wanting to look at the scene any more, the blonde ninja turned his head away from the depressing scene, only for his eyes to land on Anju; who was standing far away from her other clan members as possible. Seeing her face glow in the sunlight, Naruto was shocked to see pure sadness and despair on the girls face instead of the emotionless cover he was used to seeing from her bloodline. He wasn't sure why she stood so far apart until he saw the hostile stares the other clan members gave her. In a moment of sympathy, Naruto made his way over to the girl. Standing next to her in silence, he tried to think of something – no, anything to say to this young woman standing in grief beside him but he couldn't. Usually he was able to come up with something to make people feel better but that was only when he was in the moment so he knew actually how that moment felt. But this situation was entirely different. Even though these people didn't seem to like her or anything, she still felt sorry for them. He could only think of one thing and before he had a chance to think his idea through he threw out his hand and grabbed hers. Realising what he had done, he felt her jump at the sudden touch. He gritted his teeth together, ready to take the pain he might have felt like he usually did from one of Sakura's punches when he did something stupid. Shockingly it never came and he was surprised to feel her hand grip back on his. His team and Anju didn't leave until the whole clan had disappeared; the only person who stayed behind was her brother. Walking to his younger sister, he bent down and wiped the strands of loose hair that she had left flowing in her face.

"You ok sis?" Tadashi asked his younger sister. Anju only gave a sad nod back but the same sadness and despair still existed in her face. Taking his sister from Naruto's protective embrace he guided her towards the camp, signalling Naruto and his friends to follow.

Anju knew what was going to happen when she got back to the camp but she honestly didn't care. She was beginning to think that maybe these people were right; maybe they should just roast her on the stake and be gone with it. To be honest she was surprised to be alive for this long. She knew the group was near the camp when she could hear the angry shouts forming from the campsite. Fear over took her as she pressed herself closer to her brother for protection. The shouting increased once they had entered the camp area.

"There's the witch! Kill her!" One of the clan members shouted out, as the large horde moved towards her. She wasn't sure who the first one to throw a weapon but she knew her brother ended it when he knocked the kunai out of the air and sent a large fire ball in their direction. No one got hurt but everyone near it had just been a warning. Her brothers defence when she was surrounded by not just Jin and Hansuke but the Konohagakure ninjas as well. It seemed she wasn't the only one shocked since her whole clan took a huge step.

"Kakashi, please take my sister back to the campsite and wait for us there." He asked, trying to put calm in his voice when he really just want to bash everyone's head in.

"Certainly." Kakashi cool voice answered, tapping Tadashi's little sister on the shoulder and with everyone else keeping a protective circle around her, guided her way towards the campsite. Anju was shocked that her brother sent her off with these strangers who she had only known for a little under a day but really who else did she have to trust when her brother and friends were trying to battle for her right to live. They made it back to her camp with the small adjustments of three other bedrolls added to the small scene from where her family had added the items. It's dark already, Anju suddenly thought as she notice how darker it had gotten. Letting out a heavy sigh, Anju sunk against the tree, tugging her legs into her body so she could hug them with one arm, while she used the other to grab the fire poker and began starting up the fire. Everyone sat in a circle around the fire that Anju had just started. No one could understand what just happen, why did they want Anju dead? Did she do something really bad before they met? The whole team were thinking of the same questions over and over again in their heads and Anju could sense it. She couldn't really blame them, the event that had just happened they would want to know; no matter how much she didn't want them too.

"So what were those lizards' things anyway?" Naruto question, wanting to break the silence that had fallen upon the group but not daring to enquiry on what everyone else was thinking off. Anju tense a bit at the question, not wanting to answer that issue either but it was better than the other questions.

"Well, they used to be human." Anju began, shocking everyone around her; plus, making Naruto regret ever bringing up the subject in the first place but despite the strange beginning to this explanation everyone was still willing to listen to find out what the creatures that they fought against were. "Around a century ago the leader of the Chi clan was fed up of his fellow clan members being weak and easily pushed about by other clans and bandits. So he made a deal with the devil and sacrificed his tribes souls to the evil spirit but instead of what the leader had wanted, the devil twisted the deal a little and turned them all into monsters." Anju finished, seeing as nearly everyone's face had gone a ghostly pale. "So the story goes." Anju added, forgetting to say it was just a story. Anju belief was that a group of people had been working on some kind of jutsu that back fired on them and changed the DNA with a animal that had been close at the time; she didn't believe in heaven or hell, so she found it impossible that the king of hell existed. However, it didn't seem to help the poor ninjas around her that were now scared to death of flesh eaten monsters.


	6. THE DECISION

**The Decision **

The behaviour towards the outsiders changed slightly after the encounter with the Chi Clan. The stares were slightly less hostile and even some of the woman in the clan had begun to admire some of the leaf shinobi. But, like always, their ideas on Anju had not changed the slightest. At the moment, Anju made her way towards the campsite, surrounded by the leaf shinobi that her brother had sent along to protect her. Apart from the few shinobi that had wondered back into the camp to seek out things they had been doing before the attack, she received hostile glares. Thankfully, most of the clan members were back at the riot asking for her death. Sakura kept a comforting around her wrist the whole time back to the camp; it was a sweet gesture that Anju would always remember. She knew that the group would have a lot of painful questions that she would have to answer soon but right now they were keeping it to themselves for the moment. When they were near her camp she risked looking up to see if the coast was clear but instantly drop her head to the ground again when she received an angry look from someone walking nearby. It felt like it had taken forever to reach the safety of her family's campsite and settled down close to the fire. Anju could feel everyone giving her space, sensing she needed a bit of room to breathe. The only one that stayed close to her was Sakura and even she gave her a little pace. It was all silent until a big explosion happened in the centre of the camp. All the ninjas stood up ready for action but Anju hardly moved an inch.

"It's alright; they're just consulting the spirits to help decide my fate." Anju spoke calmly like it didn't matter that her whole clan were discussing if they should get rid of her or not. All the lead shinobi gave each other a knowing look until all of them landed on Sakura. Sighing deeply to herself, the healer crouched down beside Anju and placed a gentle hand on Anju'd shoulder.

"Anju, why are you treated so harshly by your own clan?" Sakura asked. Anju turned to her new found friend, only seeing the need to understand, Anju seek for the truth in all the other shinobi's faces. As she looked deep in to the eyes she saw the same thing she had seen in Sakura's eyes. Placing herself into a comfortable position, she began to explain.

"Well, this whole mess starts way before I was born." Anju began, making sure she had everyone's full attention before she began. "My clan has this prophecy that seventeen years ago a saviour would be born to lead us into harmony but I was born and apparently I was born with red eyes that marked evil." Fiddling with a piece of grass she threw it into the fire. "Imagine my clans' disappointment when they found out they had been waiting hundreds of years for nothing. " She tried to half joke at the situation without much success. "So now they thing I'm this evil portal of doom, if it wasn't for my brother's choice I would not be alive today." The whole group had gone silent at what the recently founded Uchiha had just said.

"So, your whole clan just turned their backs on you?" Naruto whispered. Hearing something strange in his voice, Anju looked up into his baby blue eyes to see pain and knowing, like she had just woken up a painful memory from inside him. Seeing his pain, Anju just looked away and gave a painful nod to his question.

"I don't get it! What choice did you brother make that had such a big impact?" Kiba suddenly burst out all of nowhere with his faithful canine companion barking in agreement. For a few moments, Anju sat quietly, watching the stars before finally turning to him with a small smile on her face.

"Because, he was ordered to kill me." Was the simple replay Anju said, sending cold chills to run down everyone's spine.

All of the leaf ninja were surprised that Anju seemed to take this very lightly, as she got very tired quickly and snuggled up on her mattress; falling asleep instantly. Most of them were thinking how she could have been born with the Sharingan since it could only be obtained through the heat of battle. For some reason, Naruto couldn't take his eyes off her. He couldn't quite absorb that she was just like him; Naruto knew what it was like to be hated by everyone, to be seen as a monster; even though they had no choice in what happened to them. At least she still had her brother and his two comrades who seemed to have a close relationship with her also. Naruto looked at everyone around him; glad to have close friends like his surrounding him. At that moment, Sakura looked up at him and recognised the look in her best friend's eyes. The medic-nin sent a small smile to her friend to which Naruto smiled, it almost shocked him how well they could read each other so well now. Rustling from the bushes sent the hidden leaf ninja on high alert, especially when they felt the angry charka approach. All of a sudden, Tadashi burst on to the scene, smog coming out of his ears. His two friends followed behind but made saw they were at least a couple of paces away. He walked straight past all of them and into the trees of the forest, swallowed whole by the darkness.

"Where's he going?" Naruto whined loudly, since he was impatient to find out what the news was. Sakura punched him on the head for his rudeness in return.

"Wait for it." The bronze amazonian woman ordered, as she sat herself down by her home made bed with her giant cat cradling up beside her. Hansuke also sat in his own made bed, pulling one of his knees up to rest on. No one was sure what they were supposed to be waiting for until a huge explosion somewhere in the distance happened and most of the Leaf ninja were knocked off their feet from the sheer power. Naruto rolled on to his side just in time for his arm to take the worse of the fall as he rolled over and flipped back on to his feet again. That's when the hyperactive ninja noticed that Anju was now awake with a startled look on her face. Everyone was dead quiet when Tadashi finally made his way back to the camp, looking tired all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry, I'm just..." He wasn't able to complete his sentence as he collapsed against the tree. Naruto could only watch as Anju ran to her brothers' side, quickly followed by Sakura, who already had green charka glowing from her hands. With Anju on one side and Sakura one the other, everyone else could only watch as the two young kunochi tried to make Tadashi feel better. Thanks to Sakura's amazing healing skills, Tadashi was beginning to feel better in no time and was back on his feet in seconds. "Thanks." He smiled at the pink hair kunochi, the same kunochi tried to smile back at him but there was no denying the small pink blush that appeared on her cheeks. Everyone who saw this decided to keep their mouth shout – except for Kiba who couldn't help but let out a little snigger. Suddenly, Tadashi expressions turned very serious when he turned to look at his fellow brethren. "Pack your bags we're leaving."

"What!" Anju cried out followed by similar out roars from Jin and Hansuke. The silver eye warrior did not move a bit from his spot. Anju didn't know what to think, why had her brother suddenly come out with this thought now? Had something gone wrong at the meeting? As always, her old brother was able to read her like a book and seemed to answer the questions in her head.

"No, you've not been sentence to death but I can't stand around here any longer Anju knowing that these people refuse to acknowledge you for who you really are." The pure bluntness of his words struck Anju like a rock to the head. Was Tadashi so angry with his people that he could no longer be able to stand them anymore?

"But what about our family Tadashi, our cousins, our brother and father..." She could feel her voice break at the mention of their father, she could feel her throat dry up as she was lost for words to defend their cause to stay. She didn't want her brother to give up everything for her. Brother and sister looked into each other's eyes, sensing the sympathy, regret and love between them. Taking her by the shoulders, Tadashi pulled her into a hug.

"They're not my family anymore; I lost them seventeen years ago, my own mother even before that." Her brother whispered into her ear. Seeing what her brother was getting at, Anju couldn't stop the amount of guilt that started building up in her chest. Gently, her brother pushed her away and placed his hand under her chin, to make her direct eye contact with him. "On the day you were born Anju, you were able to fix the hole in my heart that so many I had loved once filled, if I had one good thing in my life it would be the honour that Kami chose me to be your brother." The full hearted speech that came from Tadashi mouth made tears leak from her eyes. She so desperately wanted to tell him it should be her that should be thankful for having him as her brother but her brain couldn't find the words to describe how? However, no words were needed to be said since Tadashi could sense what she was thinking and just gave her another hug in acknowledgement.

"But...where will we go?" Hansuke asked, breaking up the brother and sister moment that had been happening, this rude interruption earned a hit on his head from Jin.

"Dobe, couldn't you see they hadn't finished their moment." Jin yelled at Hansuke (kind of like Sakura punching Naruto when he did something stupid) Hansuke could only hold his hand up in surrender and moved away from his crazy team mate. The interruption from his pizza loving team mate seemed to snap Tadashi focus to the task at hand.

"I thought we would go west, it's a place our clan rarely visits and who knows, maybe we will be able to find some village and get a job on a farm or something." Tadashi suggested, which sounded good to everyone; except the hidden leaf nin. What the Konohagakure ninja didn't know was that the Tsukiko Clan were experience tradesmen and farmers, as well from being a fighting force. It was something their clan had had to adopt hundreds of years ago in order to survive.

"Why don't you come to the Hidden Leaf village with us?" Naruto suddenly spoke out of nowhere. Everyone else could understand why he thought the idea, they had just made friends with these people they didn't want to lose them so soon. Thankfully, Tadashi did take the thought in to suggestion and couldn't seem the harm in it.

"The Hidden leaf village, that's in the west isn't?" Tadashi asked thoughtlessly, when he saw everyone nod it only strengthened his belief on the idea. "Great! The Hidden Leaf it is, if you don't mind use tagging along that is." The leader of the small team questioned Kakashi, who in return, gave him his signature lazy shrug.

"Sure but I should warn you though that Konohagakure and all of the other countries are at war with the Akatsuki, it might not be safe for you there." Kakashi commented, earning sweat drops from everyone, they were suppose to encourage them to come with them not scare them in the opposite direction – even if he did have a point. However, this seemed to have no effect on the strange family that had been made in this doomed clan.

"Wouldn't be the same without a little action now and again." Jin smirked, grabbing a fist size rock and crushed is within the palm of her hand effortlessly. This led to the male members in the area taking a few steps away from her (including Kakashi) since they could sense she was a dangerous woman to come toe to toe with if they entre her bad books, even some of the male leaf shinobi were worried it might be another Tsunade on the way; one of them was enough, let alone three.

"It's settled then." Hansuke laugh happily as he leaned against the tree behind him. "When do we leave?" the young man asked his fellow friend and leader, making everyone look at Tadashi.

"I would like to leave early tomorrow morning if that's possible." Tadashi alleged, earning a few cheers from the leaf shinobi; they were starting to miss home.

Tadashi, Kakashi and Yamato planned to leave just before sunrise so they wouldn't cause any suspicion with the other clan members. The two teams worked together effectively and quietly, as the teams grabbed their belongings and supplies for the trip- well everyone except Hansuke that is who refused to wake up (Hansuke was not the early morning type) forcing Jin and Anju to come up with an evil plan to wake him. Since both women had already packed their stuff, they set to work grabbing some of their supplies they would need. They might of had very little food and items but if their plan worked then their waste of important belongings was going to be totally worth it.

"If Hansuke asks, tell him I tried to stop them." Tadashi suddenly pointed out, making everyone stop half way through their packing and turned to see Jin and Anju crouching beside their lazy team mate. At first, no one was sure what the two little minxes were up to, until Anju wiped out a can of cream and Jin a soft feather. Using one hand to cover her mouth to stop her from laughing out loud and waking her sleepy friend up the newly founded Uchiha began spraying her tube of wiped cream into her team mates out stretched hand until it looked like a giant ice-cream with a flicked top. As soon as Anju had finished her part, the golden eyed beauty began tickling underneath Hansuke nose with the bird feather. The trick didn't seem to work at first, since their red headed friend made a few twitching movements with his nose. All of a sudden, Hansuke hand flew to his face, squashing the cream all over his face. The whole area began to roar with laughter, since anyone who could not contain themselves fell to the floor, clutching their stomachs as they began laughing their heads off at the ridiculous scene in front of them. It took poor Hansuke a few moments to realise what had happen until he began rubbing the cream the best he could off his face.

"Was that really necessary?" The taijutsu expert whined angrily like a five year old child, growing more frustrated as everyone continued to laugh.

"At least it worked." The beast mistress finally managed to stutter out, wiping away tears from her eyes. Hansuke face began to grow red with embarrassment, as no one seemed to stop laughing and was about to come up with some whitty comment until his eyes fell upon something he had not been hoping to see.

"Busted." Hansuke hissed towards Tadashi as a warning, hearing the seriousness in his voice, every stopped what they were doing and turned to look his Hansuke direction.

"Leaving without saying goodbye my son?" Tadashi and Anju's father question silently, making the whole area full into utter silence.


	7. THE LOSS OF FAMILY

**The Loss of Family**

The whole world went still. No one moved, no one spoke, no one even breathed. Everyone just looked at the old man that stood straight in front of the with an small army behind his back. This was not meant to happen; there was no way they should of know that they were leaving, even if they did hear the small laughter that came from their camp only seconds before. The whole army that stood behind them was well equipped and Surin stood to the left of his father fidgeting in excitement for a battle. The tension was mostly held between Tadashi and his father. Both warriors tried to stare each other down, cold steel against burning silver. Anju was glad no one was looking at her for the moment because she could feel her legs trembling underneath the dark cloak. Jin, Kakashi and Naruto (who had been the closets to the girl at the time) had stepped in the line of fire, so that no one could get a good glimpse of the curse unless they got behind them somehow; which was going to be difficult against these elite ninja. Whatever the out come was, they were all sure it was not going to be a good one.

"Father, what a pleasant surprise?" Tadashi suddenly spoke like nothing was wrong, since he was the only person who wasn't afraid to stand up to his whole clan and most importantly his father. The leader of the clan's frown grew even deeper at this statement.

"You didn't really think you could just sneak away, not with our families special jutsu." The old man snapped back, making everyone turn to look at his son. What jutsu? Everyone who didn't know what the technique was.

"The technique would of only worked if you had been checking on us for some reason in the first place." Jin hissed dangerously, with her partner -Shadow- growling threateningly at the leader as well, since Tadashi had nothing to say to the comment. The small group knew that their leader wasn't trustworthy to the mysterious Uchiha but to spy on all of them was more then a betrayal; it was a abomination. To be so loyal to the clan for all these years and be treated like this was unforgivable. You could here the grinding of Hansuke teeth as he tried to withhold his anger; knowing if he said anything it would only make it worse. Anju could only shake her head in disappointment, she could understand why she was not trusted but to do something like that to her brother, something like this would kill him and she could tell because it was written all over his face. The eldest child of the Tsukiko clans leader stood there unemotional, not moving a single muscle. His sister wanted to ran to her brother and give him a hug but she didn't want to be the one who made it worse by getting involved; well more then she could be, since she sure she was somehow linked to it.

"What happen to us father?" Tadashi Tsukiko muttered, focusing everyone's attention on to him. His father just gave him a blank look in return. "How could our family be so broken?" The man asked more loudly, not just looking at his father but everyone that stood behind the old man; all of them refused to make eye contact.

"The dishonour in our family broke us my son." The leader curse, pointing his finger past everyone and some how ended up landing on Anju. Knowing what her father meant, the curse girl couldn't help but grab on to Naruto's arm and huddle more behind his back. To her, it didn't seem like the hyperactive blonde had realised her actions until she felt his other hand grab on to the one she was using to grab onto his orange jacket and gave it a tight squeeze. This action helped Anju to calm down a little bit. She hated acting like a baby in front of everyone but the way everyone was looking at her chilled the girl to her very core. However, it turns out her father wasn't done insulting her yet. "That curse broke every thing this clan worked for and your heart was to kind to put an end to the monsters life." The old leader spat, his face entirely plain apart from the anger that hung in his ghostly grey eyes. What he said was a big mistake. Everyone that stood around Tadashi could feel the intense rage building up in his body and were now more terrified then they had felt before. The furious man marched towards his father, their faces barely a centre meter apart when he stopped in front of him. Tadashi was nearly a foot taller then his father but something in the old leaders eyes made it seem like they were staring at each other eye level.

"If anyone is the curse here it is you." Tadashi whispered, shaking intensely from the fury that was boiling through his whole body. This anger was suddenly shared between the small army that told behind the old man's back and pulled out their weapons and aimed them at silver eyed son that was willing to threaten their leader but these actions were soon turned into empty threats when the Konohagakure ninja and Tadashi's small group pulled out their own weapons; including Anju. She refused to just stand their while her brother was being threaten. Some of the opposing members had the courage to spit on the ground next to the eldest son but they dared do nothing more or they would feel the blade of the Tsukiko princess running through their chests in less then an heart beat.

"Leave us and never return." The leader growled before signalling his troops to disband, he may of hated Anju but he wasn't going to cause more bloodshed. It looked like Surin was about to argue but one death glare from his father told him to silent.

"As you wish, sir." Tadashi retorted before signalling his own legion to move out. It was time for their new lives to begin.

The whole group walked silently for a while, since all of the Tsukiko clan members (well 'ex' members) were a little depressed that they had just left. They knew it was going to be hard for them to leave but back there they had been basically chucked out. Anju felt the worse out of all of them, since it was basically her fault that they had to leave in the first place. She wished she had some brains, so she could of made herself leave by herself and that way her brother and her friends wouldn't have to leave their families behind. The mood got a little bit lighter when Naruto, Kiba and Hansuke started complaining they were hungry and their friends took the mick out of them. However, Tadashi and Anju just seemed to keep to themselves, smiling at random comments that were said every now and again or her brother had to give out an order or discuss something with Kakashi and Yamato. Everyone seemed to understand that she needed some time alone and left her to her own thoughts. Finally, after a whole day of travelling the three man quad decided to rest for the night. The exile royalty still kept quiet as they set up the tents and the camp fire. Everything seemed normal between the hidden leaf ninja; especially between the blonde ninja and the silent artist; as usual Sai had said something to piss his friend off accidentally. Feeling like she needed some time alone to get her head straight, Anju began heading off to river to splash some water in her face. However, her efforts were cut short when she heard her brother make a loud cough. Looking at him, she saw him gave a firm nod of his head towards her katana. At least some things won't change, Anju muttered to herself, as she marched over to her weapon and slung it on to her back; taking small comfort in this annoying gesture, as she headed off to the river hidden behind the trees. As the girl disappeared for some piece and quiet to herself, the argument between Naruto and Sai continued.

"It's not that small!" Team sevens hyperactive member shouting out loudly, he had his manly honour to protect after all. Emotionless as always, the ROOT member didn't seem to take the hint that he was stepping on dangerous territory.

"I admit, it has grown to the average size but it is still the smallest in our group." Sai retorted back, taking no offence of the list of rude names the knuckle-head was yelling at him.

"What Naruto means Sai is that you can't just say things like that, especially in public." Sakura jumped in, since everyone who was not good at holding there emotions (which was mostly the whole group) were trying their best to hold back fits of laughter with no success – they didn't mind that much since it was providing their night with some entertainment.

"But Sakura, it says in my book that we're suppose to discuss our problems together, now about your flat chest..." Poor Sai couldn't continue what he was going to say next because Sakura had sent a chakra infused punch into his stomach and sent him flying somewhere in the distance. Some ninja's felt a bit sorry the emotionless black op because they knew he meant well but he just didn't have a clue what he was talking about sometimes and also some of them knew what it felt like to be on the end of one of those punches. Both Naruto and Hansuke collapsed on to the fall laughing their heads off at that moment.

"You showed him Sakura!" Naruto laughed out as he tried to calm himself since his lungs were starting to hurt from the lack off oxygen. The pink medic just sent him a deathly looking glare which shut him up instantly, fearing for his own life. He felt a little upset that Sakura gave him the evils, even though he was supporting her actions but decided to let it slide like he usually did when he was upset or had just been insulted.

"Should we go and help him?" Jin leaned over to Yamato and asked, as they watched Sai, who was having trouble pulling himself free from a tree trunk.

"No, I think he'll be fine, besides it might make him think twice about what he says about woman's appearances now." Yamato answered, finishing off his cup ramen. Seeing the logic in his answer (since the pale teen didn't seem to have any common sense) the dark beauty just shrugged and tossed more meat over to Shadow and Akamaru. The animals jumped into the air and grabbed the meat like they were catching frisbee's and happily began tearing at the meat with their sharp teeth. With everyone's stomachs full, everyone was feeling ready to return to bed.

"How far away are we from the village Kakashi sensei?"Sakura inquired, as she finished righting up her medical report to hand into Tsunade when she was back at the village. There was enough room to add extra information that she needed but if they were lucky they might be able to get back home with out facing any difficulties. Quickly glimpsing up from his Icha Icha Paradise, Kakashi thought to himself for a moment before he muttered,

"I would say about three days tops, unless we come across some difficulties." Sakura nodded her head to show she understood (even though Kakashi was probably more interested in his book to really noticed) it was more or less what she thought. However, this talk seemed to jinx the whole walk home because suddenly a loud scream came from the forest.

"Anju!" Tadashi cried out and before anyone was up on their feet, the protective brother had disappeared among the bushes.

Once, just once I would like to have one day without fighting! Anju swore as she raised her blade to block the offenders attack. It wasn't like she had been doing anything wrong, she was just sitting by the river singing when these strangers attacked her. Besides, these bandits were no real threat to her as they seemed to not know and jutsu's. But just in case she kept her guard up and kept an eye on them. With a block her and a kick to the face there, it didn't take long to knock all of the thieves unconscious and tie them up. That wasn't even a work out, she sighed, as the warrior princess tied the last knot. Great! Now I have to drag them back to the group, she thought, not liking the fact that as soon she got there she would be having a gloating festival from her brother and how right he was that she always took her weapon with her. In the end she decided not to worry about it and just summoned up that she would have to make one decision at a time. But things were about to get worse because she had been to busy thinking she hadn't noticed the dark shadow looming over. It was only when she feel something drop on to her face that she came back to reality. Rain? Anju wondered, finding it hard to believe since it was the middle of summer. Placing her hand on her cheek, Anju press her palm gently across her face before pulling it out again to see blood smeared on her hand. What the...? the Uchiha thought. Her sharingan activated suddenly, as her senses took in that she was in great danger and looking up she saw a monster hanging above her head. Anju could only stare at it in terror and screamed.


	8. STRANGE BEASTS

**Strange beasts**

Anju managed to lung out of the way of the monster just into time to miss the slime ball it spat out of its mouth. Whatever it was that came from its mouth, hit the ground and began dissolving everything around it. Now that's just lovely, the ninja thought, holding out her katana in front of her. This placed some safety between her and whatever that thing was. She didn't have to wait long for back up at the trees behind her crashed to the ground and her brother was suddenly beside,

"What the hell is that?" Tadashi shouted out when his eyes rested upon the creature, bringing out his own sword to have a frontal assault weapon to defend him. They were soon joined by the rest of their group who gave similar reactions to what the brother and sister had both expressed. The creature looked like some kind of disease gorilla, with only his flesh covering it body, orange eyes gleaming like an infernal hell and green drool dripped from its mouth, burning the grass below it and leaving black patches. Akamaru growled fiercely at the unnatural beast that stood before them. Suddenly, the beast jumped widely that it was impossible to anyone to under whom it was aimed for. The large dog leapt forward them and went for the monsters throat.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, jumping in after his loyal companion and everyone followed in pursuit. Despite the acid burning into his fur, the white giant refused to let go and held a firm grip until the beast kicked him on with his long claws scratching the pet's side. Inhaling deeply, the beast spat out a fountain of poisonous slim, forcing most of the frontal attack back. It raised its sharp talons again and slashed at Kakashi and Naruto who were the closets to attacking it. Both of them had to make a quick dive to the sides. The next lot in were Hansuke, Sakura and Hinata but their attacked failed as it swung a long tongue out and with such a force knocked the root member and the Hygaga heiress over. Its slick tongue wrapped itself around Sakura's ankle and pulled her towards it until it was above her. With a loud roar it lunged forward with its sharp teeth bear. Sakura close her eyes fast as she cross her arms over her face and sending to her arms made a barrier between herself and the monster. The shock of this invisible monster burnt the monster in the face and using this sudden distraction to her advantage punch it in the face and sent it flying in the opposite direction. The animal collided with a tree. However, it recovered quicker than anyone could have comprehended and it vanished from site. Standing her ground, Sakura narrowed her eye and tried to see where it had disappeared to. The sudden stink of breath shocked the medic to the core when she noticed it was coming behind her. The animal roared and raised its gigantic hand it swung it towards her and Sakura turned around to confront it but something happened so fast that took her a moment to understand. A silver blade flung out of the darkness and slashed at the creatures arm, cutting it off by the shoulder. The monster screamed in rage and raised its other hand to attack them but froze. The two ninja didn't understand why until blood began dripping around its neck and all of a sudden the head fell off. Sakura and Tadashi had to jump backwards when the creature fell forwards and its body began melting into the ground; leaving nothing but burnt earth.

"As if things could get any weirder?" Tadashi commented, using the grass to clean off the worse of the blood before sheathing it again.

"Tell me about it." Sakura commented beside him as she slipped her black gloves off long slender fingers and back into her pouch.

"Remind me never to get on you bad side, I would hate to see how much damaged you could do in a bad mood." He winked at the young kunochi. The medic couldn't help but let a slight blush crawl on to her face. Is Tadashi hitting on Sakura? Anju thought to herself, not noticing the admiring look in his eyes. "Everyone alright?" He soon called out and mumbles of 'okays' could be heard throughout the area.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cried out and everyone turned to find the animal lover nearly done near his best friend stroking his fur. With a speed that no one had ever seen before, Sakura and Tadashi were beside the dog, their hands glowing green as they began checking for injuries. Everyone feared for the worse but under ten minutes the dog was up on his feet again and looked happier than ever. A sigh of relief broke through the crowd when they noticed this. A rolling pink tongue licked the side of the medics cheeks as her thanked them.

"What was that?" Sai questioned, being the first to speak up about the random attack. Everyone stared at the spot where the creature had disintegrated into the ground. Poisonous looking fumes seemed to spill from the area of death – they didn't even have a body to take back to the science labs.

"This is going to be more paper work then I expected." Kakashi mentioned to himself as he rubbed his defying gravity hair making it messier in the process.

"What's the matter Kakashi? Afraid that you'll have to write more than three lines." Yamato pointed and laughed at him (which is very un-characteristic if you think about it) which earn him earning a deathly glare from Kakashi but some muffle giggles from everyone else; apart from Sai who didn't understand what was so funny.

"Here it is! The hidden leaf village!" Naruto shouted out with joy as they reached the front gates of home the following morning. The four former Tsukiko clan members (five if you include Shadow) could not help but stare up at the great orange walls that almost looked like they rose from the sky and not to mention the solid gates that help secure intruders from the city. Wow! Was what all of them thought as they admired the outside of the city. Their clan had never travelled to one of the main hidden villages before and it was quite a city to see. Shadow began bouncing around in joy as she began sniffing the new soil under her paws. In seconds Akamarua was beside her, it looked like they were having a conversation between their woofs and meows; like the dog was trying to help the cat identify some of the smells of the city. It took the Konohagakure ninjas a while to snap the new arrivals out of their daze and pushed them forward to enter the city.

"Hey you guys were supposed to be back days ago." One of the entrance guards with spikey blue hair and a bandaged covering his nose waved as Team Kakashi and its additional support approached them.

"It also looks like they brought home some strays." His partner teased when the strangers came to view. All of them gave nervous waves back to the guards who sat examining them from their post. The jonin leader was the first to introduce the new people to the ninja's.

"Everyone this is Anju, Tadashi, Jin and Hansuke from the Tsukiko clan." Kakashi gave a lazy smile as he introduced the strangers. One by one the Tsukiko members walked up to them one by one to greet and show their papers. As Anju time got closer, she could not help but feel nervous. Don't freak out, just remain cool! She told herself firmly but the rapid battening of her heart intensified as she stepped up and showed them her documents. The man gave a quick look through before he handed them back to her.

"Everything seems to be in order Miss…" His mouth fell open as he stared at her with a look of fear on his face. Oh no! Anju thought to herself, as she touched the corner of her eye with her hand. Her stupid Sharingan had activated and had spooked the soldier to death.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" She panicked as she tried to apologise but the man only continued to stare at her. Feeling that his sister security was under threat Tadashi stepped in to hold up her ranks.

"Is something the matter?" Tadashi questioned politely but the steady grip of his stare and the firmness of his face told an entirely different matter.

"No it's just…" The man from the booth hesitated, losing the ability to use his tongue. It was then that silver haired leader had to put his foot down.

"Calm down, she's nothing to be afraid of." Kakashi tried to insist his fellow comrades but they looked less then pleased by the new arrival. Sensing that matters would only get worse, the leader of the large attack force signalled to Anju and her brother to move onwards.

It seemed like five minutes in the new village and already, the civilisation of the Konohagakure seemed to already know that a long lost Uchiha was walking the streets of their village; it did not help that Anju could not deactivate her blood line. She was trying her best to calm down but the mixture of fearful and angry scares only made her more terrified of herself. If she had not been placed into a protective barrier she believed she would have been half way out of the fire country by now with a mob chasing her. Attempting to hide her face she tried pulling her cloak hood past her face but it seemed it refuse to work properly. She could have been looking at the inner beauty of village right now but instead she had to endure this humiliation. They soon found some cover in a tall wooden building that lay off the centre of the village. So this is the famous Hokage tower Naruto was talking to me about? Anju wondered to herself as she caught the sign on the front of the building. She had heard countless tales from the hyperactive shinobi about this place and how one day he was going to be in charge of it; she also discovered that he liked to say believe it a lot. She could not help but feel more panicked as her comrades walked up the creaky stairs to the main office.

"Wait here." Kakashi ordered the newest additions to the village as they came to a double door. Tadashi ordered his team to stay put as the Konohagakure ninjas entered the office. Before the doors even closed behind them they heard the shout of an angry woman booming through the doors; they were beginning to think this was a bad decision after all. Anju wasn't sure what to do with herself, many ideas of what they were saying about her flew through her mind. Her breath quicken and her heart beat was nearly bursting through her chest with all the pressure that was being put on her shoulders – battles she can handle, meeting people she couldn't. A firm grip suddenly touched her shoulder. Looking up she saw a comforting smile coming from face.

"Hey, it's going to be ok." Her older brother tried to reassure her but she was still finding it differcult to find some kind of calmness. The group of four watched the clock move slowly, now and again trying to find something to entertain themselves but it seemed like they would be stuck outside the office forever. Just as the clock struck twelve and a whole hour had gone by, the door of the office flew open and Naruto came bouncing out with a woman with short black hair and a long purple robe came out after him.

"The Hokage will see you now." She announced politely. The woman seemed nice enough but Anju could tell she was trying her hardest not to look in her eyes. A complex mix of emotions overcame her and out of some kind of unnamed instinct, shot her hand out to grab Naruto. It was barely a second but realising what she had down quickly withdrew it again. I am so screwed! Anju moaned to herself as she forced herself to follow her older brother into the hidden leaf leaders office.


	9. PASSING TESTS

**Passing Tests**

Anju had to force her body to breath when she stepped into the Hokage office. She saw that the Konohagakure ninja she had travelled with had stayed in the room and were giving her smiles and thumbs up. For a second she felt relaxed when she saw them but then her eyes landed on the woman sitting behind the desk. The glare that she was given her scared Anju more than anything she had ever faced. The woman was quite young looking with blonde hair pulled into pigtails, honey eyes and a diamond in the middle of her forehead. Anju could only imagine the terrified look that must have been plastered on her face.

"Lady Hokage, it is an honour that you made time to see me and my family." Tadashi commented politely –he had always been the diplomatic one- and bowed deeply. The example was quickly followed by his three other clan members. Her expression did not change as her eyes wander over all four of them and then back on Anju again.

"You can deactivate those young lady I won't have you coming into my office trying to scare me." The woman snapped at the girl and the Tsukiko princess nearly went running from the room – probably would have if Hansuke was not behind her blocking her way- she tried to find words to explain her condition but her tongue was all twisted and numb.

"I'm afraid she can't help it Lady Hokage." Tadashi and Kakashi both stepped in together; honestly, sometimes it was like they acted like twins. Both men both looked at each other before the silver hair ninja signalled to his new friend to continue. Tsunade sat there impatiently as she waited for and answer. "You see, until recently we had no idea what my sisters ability was…" That's when her brother began explaining the whole story about their clans' legacy, Anju birth and the present situation. Throughout the whole story, the woman's face was expressionless as she lay back in her chair and listened intently. Once he had finished explaining, the honeycomb eyes turned sharply to the new found Uchiha who stood with her legs trembling under her cloak. Her expression had changed slightly; it seemed less hostile them before.

"If what your brother says is true, then why are you afraid now?" She questioned which caught Anju off guard for a second before realising it was a perfectly normal question to ask in this circumstance. She wanted to turn to her brother and ask for his help but she could not remove her own eyes from the woman in front of her.

"It's just… I don't like my eyes and a lot of people don't like them either so I'm afraid what everyone else will think, then I started thinking about it I got even more worried …"

"She says a lot of things really fast when she panics." Hansuke explained with his hand slammed over her mouth. The fast talking girl could only blink in response because she hadn't realised what she had been doing. Once it seemed that she had settle down, he team mate released her. The Hokage got up from her chair and approached her.

"May I?" She questioned, holding her hands up near her face. Anju was a little taken back for a little while and shot a worried look at her brother who also seemed to be taken back by the odd gesture. It seemed he wasn't sure what to do himself, which she found unsettling since he always knew what to do. This meant she had to decide on her own. She nodded in agreement, unable to think of any other way to answer. The woman gently placed the tips of her fingers on either side of her temples. Out of the corner of her eyes, Anju could see a green glow, similar to the glow that her brother would show when he was healing. Soon her eyelids began to droop as they slowly closed together, the tightness in her chest loosened and her breathing became more relaxed. When she felt the woman's hands leave her face, she felt more relaxed then she had ever felt in her entire life. Finally, she opened her eyes to see the woman still looking directly, staring at her with a small smile on her mouth which shock Anju a little bit. "You have very pretty purple eyes." The old woman muttered out with a sudden look of shock on her face, as if she hadn't meant to say it out loud. Surprise overcame her and she hand instantly went to touch her eyes. They didn't feel so tight as they usually did when the sharingan appear and apart from a little surprise she felt totally relaxed.

"Fascinating!" Tadashi exclaimed as he bent down and placing a finger on the side of her head began glowing green for a few seconds as he did a quick examination. "Why did I never think of that?" He muttered to himself out loud. Anju was still not sure what had happen to her but to be honest she didn't really care; she just felt so relax. The sound of the door opening made everyone turn around to see a middle age man wearing a bandager and a large scar slashed across his face.

"Ah Ibiki, you've finally arrived." Tsunade introduce the stranger, who seemed to put fearful looks on the chunins faces (except Sai) while the Tsukiko clan could only stare at him in wonder. "If you don't mind I would just like to talk to Anju alone with Ibiki." The woman asked everyone. Out of instinct, three of the strange clan members couldn't help but let their bodies tense and Tadashi reached for a secure grip on his sword handle. Fearing for her brother safety, Anju tapped him on the wrist and shook her head. She could see her temple throb in annoyance but he settled his hand back down to his side. One by one, everyone began to slowly leave the room. The last to leave was Tadashi, who seemed uncomfortable to leave her alone with strangers. How could she blame him? Before they were surrounded by people that were trying to kill her or at least planning to. What if this place was no different? After a few moments having a staring contest with Tadashi, he finally left.

Kakashi wasn't actually happy that he was leaving the poor girl alone with Ibiki –even if Tsunade was with him. But he had to let to go. He was a Konohagakure ninja; he had to think of the village's safety first. So you can imagine his expression when instead of standing tense by the door like, Tadashi asked where the nearest bathroom was. As soon as the brother had been given the information he took off with his friends following close behind.

"Come on you've got to see this." Jin said, grabbing both Hinata and Sakura's arms and dragging them with her. Out of curiosity the rest of them followed. They were shocked to witness the amazon woman easily yank the two girls into the men's bathroom. Quickly they followed and when they entered they found the three Tsukiko clan members surrounding the mirror with their two females comrades looking a little uncomfortable in this room. Moving further into the room, Kakashi's lone dark eye soon closed on Tadashi's left arm which had been extended on the mirror. He wasn't sure what the man was doing until the reflections in the mirror began to swirl around and change. Once it had finally settled the whole scene had changed. It took him a second to realise what he was looking at and then quickly turned to his old ANBU partner to see a Yamato had a startled look. Kakashi was glad his years of training had held up on his face otherwise he would have shown a similar facial expression. Really they should have reported this or arrested them as soon as they saw this but if these people caused any harm intent then they wouldn't have dragged them into it – he had known these people long enough to know they weren't stupid. The images now shown the inside of the Hokages office with Ibiki and Tsunade standing near the desk while Anju now sat in a chair that hadn't been in their before. There was no way he wouldn't of even known that the girl knew she was being watching if she didn't suddenly hide her arm behind her back and show off her middle finger.

"I don't deserve that!" Tadashi cried out angrily but was quickly shushed by his two comrades. Being the good shinobi he was he should of arrested them for spying on the Hokage meeting but the woman had not said anything about the meeting being top secret and besides, even good soldiers broke the rules once in a while.

Anju sat in the middle of the room alone as she faced the two scary people that stood in front of her. Any other day she would of being sweating with nerves but whatever the woman had done to calm her ability also blocked her reactions as well. They had been nice enough to offer her a chair (where they had gotten it from she still didn't know) so unless she wanted to get on the woman's bad side she would have to do sit there and answer the questions she knew the two were dying to ask. However, she was not happy that her brother had decided to spy on her.

"So Anju, tell us what it's like growing up in your clan?" The man with the bandager asked, it sounded like a general question but there was something about the way he was staring at her that made her feel uncomfortable; it was like they were searching her soul. Chewing the numbness out of her tongue, Anju made sure she picked her words carefully.

"Well it's pretty rough. You've got to learn the straightforward camping skills as soon as you can walk and you've got to know basics rules of trade all before you're five." Quickly she bit her tongue to stop herself going on, maybe she had loosened her mouth to much. Though the expression on their faces told her to go on. She didn't want to give away too much information about her clan, she was used to saying little when a stranger asked but she didn't want to seem like she was hiding anything, so she just gave the basics. As she continued to talk, she explained how everyone got older everyone settled into their own path. The three main groups were trader, soldier and food gather. There were also the rare groups, mercury, healer and teacher (you were lucky if you were teacher, it meant you survived over thirty five) then how you had your basic leader then second and third in command.

"What about you Anju? What was your group?" Tsunade asked kindly but the question still caught her by surprise.

"Well, I am… was sought of a healer but most of my time I was on duty as a soldier." She quickly answered and hoped to move on quickly but the woman was quick to pick up the on the unsteady note.

"Sought of a healer?" The Hokage twisted the words on the tip of her tongue like she was testing out a strange formula. She hated it but she knew she had to explain…

_A seven year old Anju was running around the board of the made up camp the clan had made just a few days ago and Jin had just received word that Hansuke and her brother had returned to the village. For the last couple of days she had been thinking of what she wanted to be when she grew up. At first it seemed like to her only destiny was to be a soldier of the clan but after what she had witnessed her brother do a few weeks ago she had been determined to follow that path. She could hear a fifteen year old Jin chasing after her but she wouldn't stop. The sooner she talked to her brother then sooner she could begin her new journey. _

"_Tadashi! Tadashi!" She called out to him when she saw her brother and friend coming down the man-made path the clan made to get to the camp and the village quicker. The teenager smiled back at her as she leapt into his arms to hug her. He swung her around and she screamed her head off. But she had no time for this; she had important matters to discuss with him. "Tadashi! Will you teach me to be a healer?" She half asked and half begged him._

"_Of course I will teach you little sister but what is with the sudden interest." He questioned as he placed him back on the floor. His grey eyes shone like silver in the morning light._

"_I've been thinking about what you did to help that woman the other day and the man before that and the little girl, I wanted to be able to do that I don't like the idea of taken people's lives I want to save them." She spoke clearly with fiery determination. _

"_Ok, let's get to it." Tadashi smiled and Anju dragged him off to begin her new advantage._

_Three weeks later… _

_Anju sat near the camp fire examining the medical books her brother had given her to study. She couldn't understand what she was doing wrong, she had followed every instruction her brother had given her to the letter but all she had succeeded in was killing fish; a big waste of supplies. There must have been something she was missing, some word her brother was saying to her she was miss-understanding. It was taking her an awfully long time to figure it out and see felt she was nowhere closer to figuring it out. But she was determined; she had to learn how to do this. Half way through her reading her brother entered the tent with a grim expression his face. _

"_Brother, I'm sorry but I have failed to find out what I am doing wrong." Anju groaned as she placed the book on the floor. Really she wanted to throw the stupid paperback on the floor and jump on it out of frustration but her brother would be very upset if she did that. _

"_Anju we need to talk." Her brother whispered and she looked up from the crackling embers to meet his face._

"_What is it?" Anju asked as she turned to him. Was he leaving for another mission but he had just returned a day ago from another one._

"_Anju… I do not believe you will be able to become a medic." Tadashi exclaimed sadly. This sudden notice caught the little girl off for a few moments. Is this some kind of joke? She wondered to herself but she knew her brother was not so cruel. The burning sensation in her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears._

"_I know I'm being slow Tadashi but I promise I'll learn, I just need a bit more time to understand." She begged him but it was no use._

"_I'm sorry little sister but it is not your knowledge or your determination that holds you back but you just have too much charka, your body is unable to harness controllable amounts for what is required." He informed her and this time there was no way she could hold the water bursting from their pipes._

"_But I want to help people." She cried and she was pulled into a deep huge. _

Of course she had left out the sad little kids bits, it was very unprofessional, so she only informed the two people of the facts. But looking into the woman's honey eyes and the man's dark ones she could sense they felt the despair that was really behind the tale. It didn't help that she felt the sadness from the physic link she and her brother shared. I hate our family's stupid technique she thought as the questions just got even harder.


	10. WHAT TO DO NOW

**What to Do Now**

She may not have been physically hurt but after she was allowed to leave the interview she felt like her body had been beaten to a pulp. There was something about that guy… Ibiki, it was like he could get into your mind and it was creepy. Now her new friends had taken Anju and her comrades for a very late lunch at Naruto's favourite restaurant called Ichiraku Ramen Bar. It only took Anju one bowl of Teuchi's famous made ramen to realise why it was the best place to come. This stuff tasted so good and she was going to eat until her stomach was about to explored. Her ambition was taken away though when Tadashi took away the sweet bowl of goodness from her.

"Please Anju it's your fourth bowl of this stuff, slow it down a bit." He tried to enforce. Her only response was a sour look on her face when she stole the bowl back from in and continued to eat; but at a slower pace. Naruto seemed very pleased that he had introduced another person to the love of his life while everyone bowed the heads in defeat that another ramen crazed lover had entered their presence. They just hoped the girl wouldn't mind offering to take them to other restaurants once in a while that severed different food. Earlier, the ninja's had been called away for different reasons, leaving just the Tsukiko clan all by themselves. Right now it was time for them to get serious.

"So Tadashi? What we going to do now we're in Konohagakure?" Jin asked as she chucked a chunk of beef to her animal friend, who was happily dozing in the corner. They had all gone through a rough patch. The strangers all had to go through interviews with Tsunade and Ibiki. Tadashi had almost blown the whole thing when he saw the increase of hostility towards his sister as they watched secretly in the men's bathroom. Thankfully, Kakashi had stopped him just in time to inform him of Ibiki purpose and that he was just testing her. Still, despite Anju suffering the worse effects of the interrogations everyone felt totally drained out of them. But now that was all over and the Hokage had signed a letter of approval to say the strangers were okay, they could live in the village for now. However, they were certain they would have to face more tests if they were to prove their loyalty. But right now they had to worry on finding a place to live for the time being.

"Well, I have a bit of money saved up which I think will be enough for all of us to stay at a motel for a few days, a week if we're careful." Tadashi answered as he thought the progress through his head. At this Anju head shot up in alarm which was quickly followed by his two team mates, who could only stare at him with their mouths dropped open. "What?" He asked, not sure why he was being looked in this way.

"But Tadashi! You've been saving up since the day you were born man!" Hansuke objected and bashed the table with his fist out of anger, making everyone that was sitting near him jump a little. "You can't just spend it all away like…"

"Hansuke, I admire your passion but sometimes you get a little carried away." Tadashi was quick to interrupt his best friend. After seeing the people he loved looking at him with mixed expressions of angry and guilt, he could on shake his head with a small smile plastered on his face. "Honestly guys, it's nice to know you're thinking of my future happiness but it's just money, theirs billions of it out there, I'm sure I'll be able to find more." He laughed and it seemed to calm everyone down a bit, except Anju who suddenly felt very greedy about having three bowls. This was going to be much rougher then she thought.

Nearly a week past and the Tsukiko clan were running out of options. Their funding was nearly used up and the four people seemed no closer to earning a job; especially Anju. News spread like wild fire across the streets of the hidden leaf village and it didn't long for people to find out who Anju really was. As soon as she stepped into a shop and introduced herself she was quickly sent away. From the brief details she knew that the Uchihas had not been much liked in their prime and things had only been made worse from Madara's and Sasuke mess ups. But despite her confidence with people being beaten into the ground even further, she didn't give up. The week hadn't been so bad, Naruto and his gang had introduce her to his other friends (Ino has taken speical liken to Tadashi) and they seemed to adopt her in with open arms, though she felt a bit of a stiff relationship with Neji and hoped it was just a temporary sit back. The group had offered to help but they had to turn them down, they needed to do this on their own. Her group needed the money more than anything but when they just had enough money for one more day she knew she had to take drastic measures. She risen earlier before anyone else and changed into her clothes. Sitting at the end of the bed as placed a little box on the top of her knees that she had hidden at the bottom of her back. Her fingers traced over the smooth wooden surface as she push the lid open. Inside laid a simple silver necklace, a ruby laid in the centre of the crescent shape symbol that hung from the chain. It was the most valuable item she had and the only person who knew she had it was a stranger she met in the woods.

_A ten year old Anju was swimming in the sea that was close to her camp. She was supposed to be collecting fish for the camp fire but she couldn't help but just have a playful look at the bottom of the shore. Plus, her father had shunned her in front of her people again and Tadashi had allowed her the day off from training so she decided to take a mini vacation by herself. Her food bag was soon filled up with shiny shells she had found hidden under the sand. During her search, something shining in the light caught her eye. With a few strokes she dusted the sand away to reveal the piece of jewellery. Instantly she grabbed it and placed it into her bag with all the rest of her worldly treasures. After a while of searching, she finally broke her head above the surface, so she could regain the oxygen in her lungs. Like a pro she swam back to the beach and trotted up to where she had placed her stuff. She had placed a genjutsu so no one would see her stuff or see her if she sat in it. Immediately she began making shell bracelets and necklaces. She usually made hundreds and sometimes brought in a bit of extra money when she sold them at markets. But her main purpose was to make lucky charm bracelets for her family. She knew it was a silly children's superstition but it made her feel a bit happier that there was magical guardian protecting those she loved. A shadow suddenly appeared before her and she jumped up onto her feet, grabbing her katana in the process when she turned around to face the intruder._

"_Nice sword." The man commented. Getting a clear look at him, she could not make out anything about his face since he had a giant hat covering his face and a black coat with red clouds on it. "Not to mention the genjutsu you placed over here, I nearly missed it." He commented as she scanned the area like he was inspecting a piece of artwork. _

"_What do you want?" Anju finally asked her voice firm and steady as she addressed him. _

"_I just came looking for an object I dropped around here, a silver necklace with a red jewel in the centre of the moon. Have you seen it?" He asked. At the description of the piece of jewellery, Anju bent down and began searching through the pile of shells her hand gripped on to the silver chain. _

"_This is?" She asked as she tossed the item towards him. The man caught it effortlessly and the only way Anju could tell he was examining it was by the way his hands ran over the chains and the symbol. It looked like he was confused by something._

"_Strange?" He finally muttered as finished inspecting it._

"_What?" She inquired, suddenly not afraid of the man's presence but curious._

"_Nothing." He commented as his attention turned from the necklace for a few seconds towards her again. "You keep it." He spoke, tossing the object back to her. She caught it with her free hand and looked at the piece of beauty the lay in her hand. Just as she was about to ask him what he was up to he was gone._

Even though it was early morning the streets were alive with shop owners setting up their shops ready for the day. Anju made her way down the streets trying to remember the directions to the pawn shop, her fingers playing nervously with the moon that hung from her chest. However, it didn't take long for Anju plan to backfire (as usual) when she accidently stumbled on to an unexpected scene.

"I don't care what you say old lady, you owe me money." A tiny man that was quite plump and well deserved stood before an old woman with two guys standing behind his back. As Anju got closer she saw that the woman was barely able to stand with her weak frame supporting her and what looked like heavy shopping bags in her arms.

"But I don't have the money! You said I didn't have to pay you back until next month." The old woman protested and Anju couldn't help but feel a bit impressed that the woman was standing up to the big men.

"Well times are getting rough, so I need to the money earlier than expected." The tiny man smiled as he signalled to the two blokes behind him and they moved in on the old woman.

"Hey back off!" Anju shouted and stepped between the old woman and the two men. The man laughed at her and when they saw the small girl step in front of them which annoyed Anju enough for her Sharingan to activate on its own accord. When they saw her eyes they both jumped back. "What do you think you're doing? Picking on a defenceless old!" She snapped at them.

"She may be an old woman but she had a debt to pay!" The small man who was in charge of the gang of bullies seemed to be taken back by her but was not afraid. The long lost Uchiha could feel her teeth gritting against one another. Her hand reached for the necklace and with one good yank, threw the ruby at the man.

"Here, that should pay it off!" She snapped at them and the men were quick to scatter off.

"Oh my dear thank you for your help." The old woman muttered behind her and Anju turned and gave a polite smile.

"It's okay, would you like me to help you take those home?" Anju asked, as the woman's arms shook with the weight. The little lady was happy to hand them over to her and with the bags on one hand and the grandmother hanging on to her on the other, the girl led her home. She tried to be polite and engaged the woman in small conversation but her mind kept drifting towards the necklace. It had been her last chance to get some money in for her family but she knew what business men like that man she had met on her travels and sure she could have just scared the man away but they would have come after the woman later on. It was better just to give them payment and they would be on their way. She guessed she could have kicked his ass but she didn't know if she would get in trouble for that since she wasn't a register ninja. Still, she worried how her family were going to survive.

"What's the matter dearie? You look miles." The woman commented catching Anju attention away from her inner thoughts and plastered a fake smile on her face. But before she could say she was fine the woman interrupted her. "Sweetheart I've been around for a long time; I know a fake smile when I see one." Great! The village is full of mind readers, Anju secretly joked to herself.

"It's nothing, just some money worries." She answered, giving only a bit of the truth. Finally the woman directed her to a street with small cottages. Oh Tadashi would love it down here, Anju wondered to herself as her eyes trailed every detail of the houses. In the end, they reached a small a house that was paved with pretty flowers.

"It was nice meeting you today madam." Anju beamed at the old woman and was just about to take off when a tiny wriggly hand tapped hard on her arm, and then began rummaging through her purse.

"It here's for your troubles dear, I don't have much but I hope it's enough to help you through today." She exclaimed before digging her hand out with a handful of cash. Oh! Was all she could think about when she saw the green pieces of paper crumbled in the woman's hand. The Tsukiko princess was very touched by the woman's gesture but kindly push the hand away.

"It is very compassionate of you but I think you need the money as much as I do, why else would you be loaning money from a brute." Anju smiled back before she left the woman to continue with her day.

Well, this day was as unsuccessful as all the others. Anju thought as she cross out another failed job attempt on the newspaper. Her day was nearly up and it seemed that her luck was against her once again. She still had at least three other places to try but she doubt she would have any success. All she could hope for was that her friends had more luck then she did. Her head was so deep into the pages of the paper that she did not realise she was walking straight into someone until she suddenly found herself on the floor.

"Lady Uchiha I was just looking for you." A familiar voice echoed through Anju head and was finally able to recognise him when she looked up to see the accustomed bandager and long scar that ran across his face.

"Ibiki! Sorry I hadn't meant to bump into you." Anju blurted out quickly as she tried to make her way to feet and was kindly offered assistance from the head of interrogations who offered her a hand. She quickly thanked him for his help but was confused by something he said. "And it's just Anju, not Lady Uchiha… hey why did you call me that anyway." She questioned as suspicion took hold over that.

"The Hokage has asked me to escort you to the tower, with force if necessary." He answered (he totally avoided the question) after this Anju senses were finally placed on full alert. Her eyes scanned the area and she caught two shinobi on either side of her, blocking her left and right while up above she had hooded figures trying to hide in the shadows; the woman really did mean her words. If only I'd listen to Tadashi taking my katana everywhere, she thought to herself. She had no choice but to blindly follow him.


	11. THE MEETING

**The Meeting**

Anju instincts were on alert every step they took towards the Hokage tower. There had almost been a scene when she saw Ino and Sakura walking up the opposite way of the street. It seemed at first like they were going to approach her but she quickly signalled to them to stay back, pointing to Ibiki and then the rooftops. They looked at all the directions she had pointed at and worried expressions grew on their faces. She saw Sakura hand instinctively reach for her kunai pouch but Anju quickly signalled her to stop her friend from making a huge mistake. The pink haired kunochi seemed not to like this one bit and with one tug of her friends arm run off. Anju wasn't sure what they were up to but the look on the medics and the mind readers face told her they were up to something. Turning around, she saw that Ibiki had witness the whole event unfold at the corner of his eye and signalled to some of the hooded figures up in the air to follow them. Damn! She cursed herself; she should have been more secretive with what she was trying to point out to them and now she had possibly put them in trouble. Thinking desperately, Anju tried to think of a way to get them out of trouble but nothing seemed to come to her. She forced herself to follow the interrogator to the tower where he led her past the Hokage's office and into a large room that had a long table full with people, including the Hokage herself. As soon as everyone noticed her, the whole room went silent. Well this is weird, she couldn't help but think as she was directed towards the empty seat. She was glad that her hands were hiding underneath the table because it would be embarrassing if they saw her playing with her hands. The looks that some of them gave her were quite worrying.

"It was nice of you to join us Anju." The Hokage greeted her kindly. Not like I had a choice, Anju thought but didn't say it out loud, since it probably wasn't the best option to speak out against the Hokage; especially around these people.

"Is there any way my presence can be of service Lady Hokage?" Anju responded, just wanting to get this over and done with. She was not in the mood to play some game she wanted no part of. The woman was quick to pick up on what Anju meant and passed a wooden box to her assistant, who walked over to her and placed it on the table in front of her. "What is it?" She inquired, her long slender fingers tracing the strange cravings of the box, fascinated by their strange curves and lines more than anything else.

"These are the deeds to your family estates." The Hokage answered which sent shivers down her back. The hand that had been touching the box snapped back like she had just finally realised she had been touching fire. Looking up at the woman who sat on the opposite side of the table with shock burning out of her purple eyes.

"Family estates? What family estates?" Anju questioned, suddenly more confused than ever. That was when Tsunade began to explain about the fortune, the lands and the power they had before the whole massacre. At first they hadn't been sure if they should give the things back to her and for the past week, Tsunade had her family and herself watched and had seen they were no threat (that and she had Naruto's complete and utter trust, which seemed to be a big bonus among some of the other council members) all of these people had been discussing her fate this morning. Anju sat through the whole thing in silence as she tried to take in what was going on. "No." Anju finally muttered out just as the woman was finishing off what she was saying.

"I beg your pardon." Tsunade asked, shocked by the interruption. Anju was shocked by her own outburst but continued anyway.

"No, I don't want to be head of a clan of have all these responsibilities, I haven't trained and even if I did except I wouldn't know the first place to start." She was right as well. Anju may have been a daughter of a clan leader but she had never been trained in political matters. Besides, when did having flashy coloured eyes have anything to be head of a clan? However, Tsunade was quick to help her out.

"Don't worry, we know for a fact that your brother has had some training and Lord Hyuga has offered his assistance." Even though the tone sounded friendly but when she mentioned the Hyuga chief something sounded a bit off. She would have to talk about it will the lady later but right now she tried to keep the surprised expression off her face. At the mention of his name, a medium sized man stood up and had eyes that were similar to Hinata's. Even though he was old he did a very graceful bow towards her, Anju couldn't decide whether a middle age man could still pull of the elegance of a young man weirded her out more or the fact that someone was bowing towards her.

"It will be an honour working with you." He answered and sat back in his chair.

"Eeerrrrr… it will be great working with you to." Anju answered, not sure of herself. Sure she was good at being polite under interrogation because she was used to it but she was used to that kind of display. It also seemed to make a bad impression on the hyuga lord. Trainings going to be brutal, Anju thought. But the question was, did she really want to do this?

Two hours later and she had moved from discussing the issue from the Hokage and the council members to her group of friends that had tried to make the best of the room they had they were renting out. She was glad for the arrival team that had come to rescue her. Some of the council members had been determined to force her to take the position there and then and Anju believed she would have cracked if her brother had not busted in like a force like thunder – it must have also been quite imposing that he carried two ANBU officials over one shoulder. She didn't even know how he knew until she saw two heads of blonde and pink disappear behind the door. As she left the office, she couldn't help but feel this must have been planned because before she left she managed to turn back and see a whole ground of debating chairmen but one smiling Hokage. It seemed that Kakashi had been waiting outside for back up as well and an even bigger back up outside the building where everyone else waited.

"Can they really do that? Force you into that position." Ino was the first to break the silence with her question. The younger generation looked around the room confused to whether they knew the answer or not.

"No they cannot." Tsunade voice boomed through the door frame sending nearly everyone except the skilled old jonin into fright. "But they're desperate." She finished off before joining the inner crowd of people and placing herself between Naruto and her favourite appetence.

"Desperate?" Anju questioned, not sure where this was going.

"The Uchiha clan has a lot of power that expands to trade, police force and decisions on the council. Not to mention that your bloodline trait is a big advantage." She pointed out but these were facts that Anju already knew about from when they had the discussion with the air heads she had met earlier today. "Plus they also think you'll be able to push you around if they are able to sink their teeth into." Now that last statement really pissed her off, she could feel her sharingan burning at the back of her eyes. If Tadashi hadn't sent placed her hand on her temple and sent cooling charka through his skin, she would have burned the whole room down with the intense glare of her eyes.

"If they think that sis, then they better watch out if they get on your bad side." He grinned at her and despite feeling a little angry, his sister could help but smile back at him.

"I'm surprise you were able to copy my technique." Tsunade managed to finally add in and Tadashi just shrugged.

"But come on, do they really expect me to take over such a big industry." Anju was quick to intersect before the subject was run off on to the matter of medical techniques. "And can I really do such an important job properly, what if I do it worse than my predecessors." The very thought of the clan leaders before her sent a little shockwave through her skin, she didn't like to think of who they used to be.

"Then you do worse." Was all Tadashi said and in return, she punched him in the arm. For someone who was supposed to be helping her making the most difficult decision of her life so far he wasn't helping at all. "Look Anju, it doesn't matter if you're the worse or best, what matters is you try." He finally added which made Anju feel a little better about herself. But she still worried about whether she had the actual ability to do her job.

Later on, Anju found herself alone on the balcony thinking. Really, she should have found themselves on the streets but the Konohagakure ninjas had gone behind their backs to donate money and were able to make enough to allow the ninjas to stay one more ninja. Right now, the lone Uchiha stared at the village that surrounded her. The wind was gently blowing through her hair, the smell of food from then by restaurants filled her nose with unknown pleasures and the sound of couple's laughter rang through her ears. Nearly everyone had gone home except for the exceptional few but right now, she just needed sometime to herself to think this big decision through; after all it was her decision to make. If she was being perfectly honest, she didn't like the sound of being the leader of a clan, she never really imagined she had the right stuff to pull off something like that and the information Lady Tsunade had been kind enough to give them. But then again she couldn't just think of herself. The Uchiha compound, provider her with a fortune that she could use to support her family not to mention she could redeem the family name, her mother's name. With a heavy sigh, her head collapsed onto the banister which she had been leaning against. The door opened beneath her and she peeped out of the corner of her eye to see Naruto was heading home. He suddenly looked up quickly so that his blue eyes linked to hers. Giving a small smile, he wave and she responded with a similar gesture. With that he was off once again.

"Special isn't he?" A small voice echoed behind her and she turned around ever so slightly to see the Hokage had joined her for the fresh air.

"Yes, I never met anyone quite like him." Anju smiled back. Both woman settle into a still silence and just admired what little view they had of the small market area.

"You don't have to take the position you know." She suddenly spoke out of nowhere but Anju could sense this was coming. Rushing a hand through her hair, the long lost heiress wondered if anything in her life will have come across a simple decision to make and not one that was based on a life of death situation. Still. It seemed the universe had decided a different path to follow; one which she seemed unable to escape from.

"I know and I honestly don't want to but my heart tells me that I need to, not just to support my family but to cleanse some of the darkness people with the same blood have left behind." She told the Hokage firmly, shocked by her own confidence in her words. The Hokage regarded her for a few seconds before turning her eyes towards the sky, the yellows flickers in her eyes were misted with deep thoughts.

"I feel that something else deeply troubles you." The Hokage was able to spot, allowing Anju to have a ten second angry fests with herself about how terrible her secret keeping was.

"I fear that if I get to absorb in becoming an Uchiha, I'll… I'll become just like them." She muttered miserably and felt her head sinking low into a depression again. The woman just laughed and gave her a small pat on the shoulder.

"Anju, if there's one thing I know in this world is that you are nothing like an Uchiha, trust me I used to knew a few of them." She smiled and Anju couldn't help but feel confuse. From what she had heard this woman was supposed to be quite scary but she seemed to be really nice; a little frighten when she gave one of those glares but overall a nice person. "Here, I was supposed to give this back." She muttered chucking something in her direction. Anju caught it just in time. Examining the object in her hand she was shocked to find it was her necklace! She turned to the woman to confront her about all of this but the Hokage had disappeared.


	12. FIXNG IT ALL UP

**Fixing It All Up**

"It looks… lovely." Was the only thing that Hansuke could say which earned him a smack on the head from Jin and a disapproving nod from Shadow. But Anju had to agree with him to a certain point. The compound was huge and it looked like nobody had lived in it for thousands of years with the dangling webs, broken wooden panels and the rusty roofs; the place was in a serious need for a repair. As soon as she stepped foot on the lot, Anju could sense a cold dread surround her, she agreed in the end to take the place like she had told Tsunade she would to support her family but it didn't mean she liked. The necklaces warm touch around her neck gave her some confidence and she grabbed on to it to reassure herself that she was doing the right thing. After a while at looking the place over from the outside they family made themselves walk in. It was larger than she thought it would be and she certainly was surprise to find a huge wall surrounding the place. It was almost like a mini village hidden in the centre of the leaf. Exploring deeper into the maze of the small town, Anju couldn't help but feel goose bumps run up and down her arm. She had heard about the whole massacre that had happened down these very streets and the idea that one person could turn against their whole family like that made her feel cold. In the very centre of the compound lay the main mansion where she was expected to live. The place seemed less run down then the others for some reason. Cautiously, she approached the place with great care, it may have looked fine but she didn't know what the internal structure was like. Pushing the door aside she entered, carefully watching the shadows in case anything jumped out at her. As expected the whole house was covered with dust and the furniture was covered in white cloth. After a quick inspection of all the rooms she quickly left, meeting with everyone else who had been examining the other houses.

"The houses don't seem that bad, a little cleaning and a new fresh coat of paint should get rid of the worse of it." Jin suggested and everyone nodded in agreement. They quickly set to work, grabbing the necessary items from the early market this morning. They set to work, dragging the furniture out of the places and given them a good clean and check overs, replacing some of the roof tiles that badly needed replacing and dusting the whole area. The whole place must have looked like it had a whole gas ball floating above it from the amount of dead materials that were flying around the place. All of them had divided into different chores to help quicken the process up. Anju job was to replace the worse looking roof tiles. So far it had gone well and the height had given her a nice view of the forest that surrounding the whole area.

"Hey guys!" A loud voice boomed over the whole area. It distracted her from her day dreaming long enough to look down and see a whole group of people looking up at her from the street. The person who stood at the very front of the whole crowd was none less than the one and only; Naruto Uzimaki.

"What are you guys doing here?" Anju called back down as she jumped down from what she was doing and went to greet them. Everyone was there. All of the rookie nine plus Team Gai had come to see her and all of them held buckets of paint, brooms or anything other cleaning material you could ever think of. Before anyone else could say anything, Gai stepped forward.

"We've come show our strength of friendship by helping replenish your new home for the bloom of such health does not happen every day." The man smiled at her, his pure white teeth beaming in the light. Everyone that surrounded him had large sweat drops fallen from their heads, except for his mini self who was holding on to his every word. Anju just forced a smile on her face and prepared to look grateful – even though she had no idea what he had just said.

"That's very sweet of you guys but you don't have to give up your time for us." At the mention of the whole group, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the group, giving them a quick wave before turning back to the tasks at hand.

"Don't worry Anju, we want to help." Sakura was quick to point out and everyone waved the tools in their hands in agreement (except for Kakashi who just mumbled something behind Icha Icha Paradise) everyone laughed, every single person seemed happy to be here, even Shikamaru; which was achievement in itself.

"I don't know what to say." Was all she could blurt out in the end because of all the emotions that were stuck in her throat?

"Well don't say anything and scare them off, we could use all the help we can get." Jin shouted over to her and Shadow roared in agreement. Soon everyone was off to work, including the fifty shadow clones Naruto summoned to start working on the other buildings further near the walls. Everything was going well and the houses were soon fixed, repainted and republish quicker than anyone imagined. However, Anju senses soon picked up suspicious in the area and the odour was defiantly coming from Ino and Sakura. She first picked up on something strange when she saw both them talking in hush tones with Tadashi. At first she tried to put it to the back of her head (telling herself that they were all just flirting with each other) but she soon found them disappearing and reappearing all of the time and always in and out of the house.

"Does anyone know what those two are doing?" Anju couldn't help but was ask out loud finally. The people that heard her just looked at the two female kunochi and shock their heads; they knew well that you never cross woman when they're up to something, especially if it was those two who were involved. They knew if it was girl business then you stayed as far away from it as you could and kept your head down.

"Why don't you just lip read them, I'm sure you'll be able to find out then?" Shikamaru suggested and every male specimen around him casted him a look that read 'shut up' worrying that they would get dragged into this.

"If I could I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Anju snapped back before stomping off to another rooftop that needed repairing – though she might of accidently destroyed some tiles in the process- during the middle of work she looked up at the site that everyone had transformed from haunted town to perfect living environment. Now she didn't feel so weird living in this place. But it still left her with the question what the hell she was going to do with this place. It was too large, sure she knew she was expected to pump out babies to secure the bloodline (the very thought of Danzo saying that shock her to her very core) but it wasn't like she was able to have five hundred at once. She needed to find some way to use up all this space. Of course her family were doing their best to help with the situation, there was an old blacksmith shop that Hansuke was interested in reforming, Jin was hoping to fix one of the apartments into a vets plus animal rescue shelter and Tadashi was going to be living in one of the houses near her. Though she had an idea what she was going to do with one of the farm like houses near the back but she still hadn't decided how she was going to transform it in secret yet. An orange blur caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. "Shadow clone or the real one!" She shouted out when he was in ear reach. Whoever, he was stopped what he was doing instantly and turned towards her. Anju decided she really hated shadow clones. They were just too similar to the real one and not just the way he looked, the way they held themselves and acted like them as well.

"Shadow Clone!" He called back, a huge grin edged on every corner of his face. Anju could feel her stomachs doing back flips just looking at the man that stood before her but she quickly pushed away the feeling as soon as it came.

"Can you help me with this one? The angles are different so it's making it hard for me to fit it into place without slipping away." Her questioned was soon followed by a wider grin then she could ever possibly imagine and was soon beside her. Helping her to hold on to the rectangle bricks as she secured them on to the roof. With his help she was able to get it done in half the time like everything else that needed to be done today. "Thanks for the help Naruto, I need to get to everything else." She smiled at him as she collected her stuff together and was about to go on to the next job when the shadow clone reached out and grabbed her gently around the wrist.

"Actually, every thing's finished, we're all meeting back at the main house." He quickly informed her but only left Anju a little confused. How does he know that? He's been with me the whole time, she wondered to herself and had to assume there was some kind of link between clones and the main person. She nodded anyway to inform him that he got the message and he disappeared in a puff of smoke. I'm never going to get use to that, she thought, shaking her head clear as she headed towards the huge crowd that was gathering. Her suspicious were once again aroused when she sure the mischievous looks on Sakura and Ino's faces'. Uh oh, was all she could think and before she could make a run for it, the two friends had a solid grip on either side of her arm and dragged her inside the main mansion. As soon as her eyes settled on the inside of the house she mouth honestly fell on to the ground. The place had totally transformed, the place and been redecorated and style with the original furniture but some other stuff she was sure hadn't been there before. However, she was not given a chance to examine anything since she was dragged all the way upstairs. Once she was at the top she was ordered to close her eyes and follow the sound of their voices.

"Have you got your eyes close?" Ino asked for the third time since five steps ago. Anju sighed but nodded her head once again in response. "Okay and open." Directly on the order, Anju eyes flew open and she felt like she had fallen into a fairy tale world. The room was decorated with soft blues, greens and yellows to design the whole room into a beach. One of the floors had actually been painted into a view of the sea and for a second, she felt like she was actually there.

"This room is amazing." Anju cried out and she leapt on both of them as she pulled them both into a hug. All of the girls laughed and she finally let them go. "There's just one more thing I had to do to make this room complete." She smiled and both girls shot her curious looks at her. Before they could ask she shot of and jumped on the bed and lightly bounced on it.

"That's it?" Ino asked sounding a little disappointed, though Anju seemed to think differently.

"I've always wanted to try this!" Anju cheered as she collapsed back on the soft quilt. She was soon joined by the two other girls joining her on the bed and she quickly had to raise her arms over her head to make sure nothing was slammed in to it. They were all laughing their heads off for the rest of the day.


	13. THE EYES

**The Eyes**

Two weeks. Two weeks at this stupid job as a clan leader and already she felt like she might strangle someone. She had gone to meetings, arranged trade agreements and signed forms in new training arrangements for the police. It felt weird to be a clan leader and yet not have people to follow her. Sighing deeply, she pulled the covers back over her head as she tried to ignore the constant buzzing of the alarm clock. There was no way she was going to get up. She had not had a single moment to herself ever since she had fully established herself in this position and at the end of the week she had to go to a ceremony which will announced the Uchiha's return to the village, which she would have to greet the feudal lord, ambassadors from other countries and also the people of the village. The warmth from the covers soon disappeared and Anju felt herself jerk awake.

"Wake up sleepy head." Tadashi teased from where he stood with her prized procession in his hands. She knew better than to try and retake the covers from him and settle with just burying her head deeper into the covers. Mostly her training was given to her by Lord Hyuga and sometimes Tadashi with the basics but she rarely got to see him any more with his new job at the hospital. Anju blamed him for being too much of gentleman. If he hadn't helped Sakura carry box load of medical items to the hospital and happen to overhear one of the doctors complaining about one of his patients and Tadashi stepped in and cured the man before anyone could blink – this impressed Tsunade very much and she offered him a job right on the spot. Not to mention he seem to spend a lot of time with the pink hair beauty recently. What was with that? She wondered to herself but her sleepy mind could not take in what was going on. Something started tickling her feet and she had to pull her knees high to her chest but that didn't stop her brother grabbing her ankles and yanking her on to the floor. Wow! The floor is more comfortable than I thought, Anju dreamed to herself as she snuggled on to the wood. "You can't be that tired." Tadashi asked but he soon realised that was all wrong when she had in fact fallen back to sleep. With a heavy sigh he placed her back into bed and tucked her in, before closing the door behind him.

It was hours later that Anju was able to open her eyes without needing the effort to lift up weights. By then the sun was beaming for blast through the windows. What time is it? She wondered as she turned over and her hand felt for the clock. It took her a while for her mind to fully register what the time actually was. Crap! She cursed, kicking the covers off her and jumping off the bed with a new found energy. Quickly, she fixed herself into her formal robes (which Tsunade had been kind another to lend her until she could get some proper stuff) and pulled her hair into a tight bun instead of the flying mess. She managed to stop herself bursting through the office doors just enough to smoother the creases away so she at least looked presentable. Taking a deep breath and prepare to getting on her knees and start a thousand apologies to Lord Hyuga for her lateness, she pushed opened the door to find the only man sitting in their was her brother, bent over paperwork and was scribbling madly. Eeeerrrr? Was the only response Anju could think to come up with before she finally knocked on the door to get his attention. Looking up he passed her a sweet smile.

"Morning or should I say afternoon." He joked but his sister was still a little stunned to let the insult affected her that much.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Anju demanded a little more forcefully then she intended to happen. However, he just drugged and signed off whatever he was working on before leaning back in his chair to get a proper look at her.

"Anju, you've been working your ass off all week and doing an excellent job of it despite what Mr Stick Up his Bum says. Besides, you didn't have much to do today except paper work which I am covering for you." Tadashi pointed out to her but Anju couldn't really take him seriously; he was her brother, he was meant to say nice stuff to her. It seems like he was reading her mind and was determined to prove his points to her. "Look! The trade systems you invented a few days ago were genius and went out perfectly, the head of the police are impressed with the new training program you've invented and most of the council members have welcomed you with open arms after they saw what you're really like. What more could you ask for?" The thing is though, despite what he might think it was not enough. There was still much work to do if she was going to clean up the mess so many had left behind them and even though she hated this job she was determined to see it through. All she could do was sigh. For some reason it help to rid her of some on the emotions that had burned up on her chest. In the end she except defeat and kissed him on the top of his head, thanking him for his help and warned him not to over work himself. She decided to go for a walk. It had been a long time since she had a while to stretch out her legs that hadn't included quick training sessions she needed to fit in before her busy day – she couldn't let all the skills Tadashi taught her go to waste. In just a few minutes she was out of her formal stuff and back into her casual attire. The civilian outfit she had fitted herself was a blue skirt with tights that went into her boots and a long purple top that had no sleeves. She kept her hair in the messy bun so her long hair wouldn't be flying around all over the place and strapped the small pouch with all her necessary items in it. Plus, in civilian close she was able to fit into the crowd more easily: not hostile glares, not muttered comments and most of all no shivering in fear. She wanted a simple walk, was that too much to ask? Apparently, it was. She had just made it a mile down the path that connected the village market to her lands when she bumped into Kakashi. It was easy to spot the man whenever he had his favourite orange book in front of his face.

"Hello Kakashi!" She called out from where she was. The ninja peeked over his most prized procession just enough to be able to see her. He gave his simple creaked eye smile (since the mask blocked every other inch of his face) and gave her a small wave.

"Hello Anju and where are we off to on this fine afternoon?" He asked and all she could do was shrug.

"Nowhere special, just wanted to get out of the house for a while." She smiled and he grinned back at her. Looking at him then, she couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had learned to have such a wide grin from Kakashi or that the teacher had learnt it from his student. As soon as the thought came it was gone, it was most like the happy blonde had rubbed off on his sensei since the copy nin was to calm and collected to see smiling randomly twenty four seven.

"In that case would you like to join me." He offered and Anju was quick to agree to it. It was quite obvious that Kakashi wasn't much of a talker, neither was she. Which was all right for her. Despite the fact that nothing was being said between the atmosphere they shared was quite comfortable. He took her through the woods, where a path had been made so it was easier to walk through. The shade of the trees helped to warn off some of the heat that the blazing sun was burning down on them, the trees were turning slowly into vibrate reds, oranges and yellows mixed among the greens as they announced the arrival of autumn and a cool breeze swept her loose strands of hair and sent them flying in different directions. However, underneath the underneath, she couldn't help but think there may be more to this sudden meeting on the road. She tried not to think about it, since she was having a nice time to drawl in his company but her trained instincts refused to let the feeling go. Thankfully, they were on high alert because if they weren't she would not of noticed that the silver man had fallen a few steps behind, slipped his hand into his pouch and threw a kunai at her. Instantly, she slipped down into the splits, the weapon whizzing over her head. Quickly she flipped back on to her feet and jumped a few steps back so there was a good distance between them.

"What the hell's your problem?" She snapped at him, holding herself in a defensive position to strengthen the protective barrier. On the other hand, Kakashi displayed not tense figure at all but his usual lazy presence.

"Sorry but I needed to activate Sharingan since you're unable to which it on and off own your own." He stated simply which frustrated Anju even more then she already was.

"Why did you want to do that?" She hissed at him, crouching down a little more like a poisonous snake trapped in a corner, ready to launch out and strike. The copy-nin just sat their regarding her from where he stood.

"Just something that Shikamaru happened to pick up in the last conversation and it got me curious about your skills." Kakashi replied to her comment before hand. Anju mind was buzzing crazily around in her head to try and remember the last time she had talked to the lazy shinobi who had dragged her into all of this…

_"Does anyone know what those two are doing?" Anju couldn't help but was ask out loud finally. The people that heard her just looked at the two female kunochi and shock their heads; they knew well that you never cross woman when they're up to something, especially if it was those two who were involved. They knew if it was girl business then you stayed as far away from it as you could and kept your head down._

_"Why don't you just lip read them, I'm sure you'll be able to find out then?" Shikamaru suggested and every male specimen around him casted him a look that read 'shut up' worrying that they would get dragged into this._

_"If I could I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Anju snapped back before stomping off to another rooftop that needed repairing._

All of this over the fact that I'm not being able to read lips! She screamed to herself but refused to let the whole emotion on her face. The last thing she needed was to say or do something stupid and totally embarrass herself. Until she had all the facts she was just going to stand there with her guard up and listen to what this guy had to say first.

"Anju, whenever your Sharingan is activate have you noticed that it allows you to preform special acts?" Kakashi asked her but all he got was a hard thinking Anju, as she tried hard to take in what he had said. Then for some reason her began making funny arm movements with his arm, as if he was just loosening up for a work out.

"No." Was all she said and she saw the copy's nin lone eye rolled and for some reason Anju did the same thing with her lone left eye. Well that's weird? She wondered as she almost went dizzy from the weird gesture she had copied from the man that stood in front of her. The man made a gesture to her arm and slowly she turned to see her arm was moving as well. To her amazement, she realised she was performing the same weird acts that Kakashi was performing. Looking at her arm in pure horror, she wondered what was with this madness and wondered if the man had placed a genjutsu on her. But for some reason she knew it wasn't true, it felt more like her body was predicting what he was doing the same time he was. Nevertheless, she had to force all her will power into stopping her arm but even after that she could still tell what he was doing. She couldn't believe she had missed it after all these years. The images of battles started flashing through her head and she realised that she had always been able to predict people's moves for some reason but had just put it down to good instincts. Not in a million years would she had placed that two and two together. So she was not surprised when the ninja sat down on the soft grass and placed the orange book filled with porn into his back pocket. He patted the ground in front of him for and she followed suit, knowing he would not harm her.

"I think it's time we had a little talk." He suggested and Anju couldn't help but agree.

I'm such an idiot! Anju cursed herself as the jonin left her to walk through the city by herself as he went off to attend shinobi business. After a deep discussion with the silver haired man about the abilities her eyes processed and what she could possibly do with them, she agreed for the man to join in on her early morning training sessions to help her master this power she had within the grasp of her hands and never knew she processed it. She couldn't believe that she had gone all her life with these eyes and had not seen the benefits it provided her. The woman was so shut off in her own thoughts that she did not here the booming voice close behind her that the hold universe could hear. It wasn't until they tapped her on the arm. Scaring her half to death she swirled around and aimed a high kick at the persons face. She must have kicked really hard because the guy that had got her attention went flying on the opposite side of the street. It wasn't until the dust had cleared from the scene and a shed of blonde hair caught her attention that she realised her mistake. Oh Crap!


	14. FACING TROUBLES

**Facing Troubles**

"Again, I'm really sorry." Anju apologised to the hyperactive blonde for the hundredth time that day as she treated him out to his favourite ramen bar; all you could eat. Not to mention the fact she was trying to mend the deep cut the metal plates on her combat boots had caused when she had kicked him. It was a good thing she was carrying a tiny medic kit around with her to purify the wound and bandaged it up. The aesthetic she was dripping on his forehead was not a nice one to use but it was the best at cleaning out the bad bacteria in the skin but it stung like hell. Every time she added a new bit to it the cut he kept wincing. "Sorry." She stumble again as she added the last bit before applying a plaster to his head. It seemed offering him non-stop ramen was the best way to cure Naruto's low self-esteem when he was beaten up by a girl.

"Anju, it's okay, I shouldn't have just scared you like that." Naruto tried to persuade her again but it still didn't make Anju feel any less guilty then she already did. "Besides, that upper kicked you preformed was impressive." He smiled, giving her the thumbs up. A warm feeling at the pit of the stomach started to grow bigger and she had to turn away from him so that he couldn't that her breath had quicken just a little and that she was blushing. What the hell is wrong with? She cursed as she took a deep breath and turned back to see him back at his own bowl of ramen. It helped to calm her a bit because it helped the rest of her blush to disappear. Something felt really strange between her and this boy she had met just a few weeks ago but to her amazement… she liked it. For a while she was able to keep herself together and was able to engage him into casual conversation. "So, what was on your mind?" He finally asked; after the fifth bowl.

"Oh, Kakashi was happy to inform me that I had all these cool abilities I could do with my sharingan and I hadn't noticed after all these years." She announced as she resting her head on her hand and tried to hide her embarrassment with the loose hair covering her face. Naruto began laughing his head off but she could sense it was not a mean one and she couldn't help but smile a little herself at her own foolishness.

"Don't worry about it; I went nearly three years without noticing that I learned whatever my clones learned." He grinned at her and this time, Anju felt a little better after she heard this, knowing she wasn't the only one that had made a foolish mistake like that.

"Well you know, we un-observational got to stick together." She laughed and he did the same. Another ten bowls later and Naruto was finally ready to call it a day; though Anju couldn't help but sense that he could have eaten more if he wanted too. But they didn't move away from where they sat. Instead they just… talked. It may of sounded weird but this kind of thing she was only used to doing with Tadashi and rarely Jin and Hansuke and it had taken her time to open up to them. But with Naruto it was a totally different story. There was just something about him that made her feel so comfortable being around them him. Maybe it was because they had a lot in common, like the way they had both been shunned by their own people at an early way, how the very few people they had made them want to protect their village and that they both knew how hard it was to shut off their emotions to do their job. She also knew that they were sitting a little closer than they should have been but she didn't care. However, the day soon got dark and her companion offered to be gentlemen and walk her home. She tried to turn the gesture down – she was a big girl she could take care of herself. But he insisted and in the end she allowed him. Though, she was kind of glad he had not backed down so easily now because she enjoyed their company together. He seemed unwilling to leave her side and seemed a little stuck about what to do when they we standing in front of her door. "Would you like to come in?" She offered since it seemed the polite thing to do.

"Yeah sure." He beamed and Anju turned towards the door only to find it locked. Tadashi must have left early? Anju thought as she fiddled through her bag to find the keys.

"Sorry, I'm not used to my front door yet." She replied sheepishly as she tried to work out which way she was meant to turn the lock again or how far. The only security they had just in the past was complicated seals they had just to seal items away. But the idea of a lock and key confused the hell out of her.

"Let me help." The man beside her offered and placed his hand over hers. A spark went through her hands and she had to use all her might not to jump back five metres like she had just been electrocuted by lightening. Taking deep breaths she kept herself still as she allowed the man to twist the lock and gently pushed the door open a little. As soon as he let go it was like time had be reset to its proper working manner and she was able to regain some of the focus from her dizzy head. It was then that she noticed how close they really were. There's were just grazing against each other and she could feel his hot breath against her cheek. They were looking right at each other, a little shocked from the position they caught themselves in, yet they didn't try to move from this position. The blonde's eyes blinked wildly as he tried to figure out what was going on. Her breathing grew more rapid and she could feel themselves inching closer. An unknown force was driving her to do something impulsive and she had no control over what the hell was happing. Suddenly, the sound of a loud cough caught their attention and they instantly jumped apart from each other. In the rush, Anju accidently slammed against the wall as she tried to escape the odd position that she had been discovered in. Her brother stood on the top steps of the porch, leaning against the railing with his left eyebrow raised half way up his forehead and giving both of them a questionable look. The blood began rushing to her cheeks and she could feel her cheeks warm up from embarrassment.

"What you doing?" He mocked from where he stood a little smile playfully pulling at the corner of his lips. Anju and Naruto risked a quick glance at each other before rushing away again.

"I was just helping Anju with the door." Naruto quickly stuttered out as he tried to find a way to explain how they looked closely comfortable with each other just a minute ago. Quickly, she nodded in agreement, not trusting her tongue to answer for her since it felt like sand paper at the moment. However, this didn't stop her brother sending dangerous looking glances over towards the man who had almost kissed his little sister. "I'll see you later guys." The hyperactive blonde grinned as he tried to brush the situation under the mat and then made a dash for it; leaving Anju completely alone to face her sibling.

Another day or two past and Anju was sitting through another boring meeting with the council. They were discussing the arrival of the representatives of the four other countries that were making their way to the village as they spoke to prepare room and protection for their guests. There was a large debate going on about where the people would be based. Somewhere during the conversation, the whole idea had fallen on to the space she currently processed in the Uchiha compound. At the moment the only one that wasn't debating the whole situation was her. All she did was lean back her chair and watch the other members out. She was waiting for the perfect opportunity to step in a perfectly embarrassing situation. All she had to do was wait for the perfect high note that announced someone was getting a little tied up more than they should. Ah! There it is.

"If I may have a say in the matter." Anju finally called out in a commanding tone which caught everyone's attention. Two of the people who had been arguing squirmed back done into their seats and she had to fight every natural response to not show the smile she so desperately wanted to show. "I am fine to hold the guests because of the amount of room I have on the compound but there are other uses I would like to use it for as well." This seemed to catch everyone's attention firmly and for once they were all sat quietly in their seats waiting for the leader of the Uchiha clan to explain. The Hokage totally expression (which also meant I better have my shake ready after this) suddenly became interesting for the first time during the whole meeting.

"What do you propose?" Tsunade questioned, her head leaning forward on her hands and raising one of her thin eyebrows which showed she was amused in some way. Maybe it was because it was the first meeting she had ever proposed something and was sure to cause an up roar no matter if her ideas were good or not.

"With war coming up I have been trying to figure out how I could offer my assistance during the war and going over research about the other ninja wars and some discussions I've had with the medical stuff I've come up with an idea." At this moment, Anju reached down into her belongs and pulled up a map that showed part of the compound that she and had brother chosen for the reconstruction. "My research shows that most deaths happened because they couldn't research medical assistance in time. Now my idea is that if we developed this part of the building into a medical centre, it will stop the hospital being so quickly over filled and people that arrive home from the southern and eastern side can receive medical attention half an hour faster." The whole idea had been based around Sakura complaining. Her brother had invited her over for a family dinner a few nights ago and she had been upset because she had lost a jonin member today because his team had gotten him back to late and had lost to much blood. Knowing what she was going through Tadashi had explained that there was nothing she could have done unless there was a medic centre nearby. As she listened, her mind began to drift towards the row of houses that had been fashioned into a mini medic centre of its own. Some of the equipment still worked well and the rooms were large enough to host over five hundred patients, had enough supply rooms to equip three years of supplies and there were even a few surgery rooms. That's when the whole idea popped into her head. She was determined to get this project excepted especially with war on the way they were going to need all the help they could get.

"Even if you have the room you don't have any of the medical assistance or the funding to support it." Danzo was the first to dive in and take the situation out of control and some of the other members agreed with him. A small smiled spread across her face.

"The funding will be coming from my own money and we've already gather assistance from old surgeons and nurses that are willing to come out of retirement to help, plus my brother is a fully qualified doctor and will be in charge of the operation." She was happy to announce and her response was only met by annoyed looks.

"If this is so why have you come to us?" Lord Hyuga inquired his face one of the blankest at the table.

"Because I rather get this out of the way now instead of beginning the project and then having to put it on hold because someone didn't like it for some unknown reason." She answered, her eyes narrowed as she zoomed in on the members who were so up themselves and still had grudges against one half of her people. Some of them back down and looked away into the strangest corner they could find. Others were not so scared. "I plan on seeing this project through whether you're with me or not, this could save lives and we are not in a time period to waste it." She argued with them. For a long time the room was silent. Everyone seemed shocked by her new commitment to the cause. The truth was that she did not like being drawn into a war but she wasn't going to step back and watch men die when she could do something about it and she intended to get her way.

"Nice work!" Tsunade commented as the two women watched the rest of council leave. As soon as she got the jonin commander on her side everyone agreed, even Danzo which was the sweetest thing ever; she really didn't like that guy. As soon as the men had left, the Hokage took her to her office to give her an official license of agreement (meaning she was able to perform medical attention on her compound legally) not to mention to share a cup of shake to celebrate her first victory against the council. "I have to admit, it took guts for you to stare Danzo down like that." The older woman laughed and took a deep sip from her cup which Anju followed in pursuit. She just shrugged it off, since she was not use to gaining compliments.

"Well, you know, trying to rewrite some of the wrongs my family had caused." Anju smiled as she took another deep sip from her own cup. For a few moments the leader of the village sat from the other side of the desk examined her for a few seconds. Suddenly, to Anju surprised she placed the alcohol aside.

"Anju, I haven't know you for that long but I know when you thought of that idea, redeeming yourself was the last thing on your mind." The woman responded, her hand itching towards the shake but she was waiting for the young girls reply.

"Tsunade I have to be honest you confuse me." The Uchiha pointed out which caused the older woman to look slightly confused herself; plus it got the conversation away from her. "Before I met you I was told you give… tough love. Yet as soon as I've arrived you've been nothing but nice. I'm a little puzzled?" She admitted, knowing she was taking a risky road but with everyone mocking her saying she was teacher's pet (even Sakura) she needed to know why she was being treated this way.

"Because I know actually what you're going through." Tsunade answered and snatching her drink back up and downing it all in one. "Thirty years ago, I and my brother were the last of her clan and we were supposed to take over, reproduce so the village still; had a powerful elite. But as soon as the two people I cared about died, I walked away, refused to face my problems. Something that you're doing differently."


	15. UNIQUE SITUATIONS

**Unique Situations**

"Come on Anju focus!" Kakashi ordered as he threw another handful of kunai at her and Anju jumped back just in time. Being able to read peoples moves was one thing but getting your body to function just as fast was another. The man had literally been working her to the core since this morning. Beforehand they only had half an hour each morning before she had to go back for meetings and etc. So for today she had made the whole day to do whatever she please and that meant a longer training session. They had been up since six and if she risked a look up into the sky it was just coming up to noon. She had learnt two new techniques, half of it was seeing her teacher do them and the other half was practicing until she could do it properly herself. Also, she was beginning to be able to read peoples lips and mimic their movement a little. But it was still nothing compared to the amount Kakashi had mastered. Even with her sharingan activated he always seemed to know what was going to happen a spilt second faster than her and it always gave him the upper hand. "Okay, let's take a break." He suggested, pulling his headband back over his implanted eye and went to rest over the shade of a large oak tree. Swiping the sweat off her brow, her only sign of agreement was dragging her feet towards the same direction and collapsing on her back right next to him. Reaching to her side she pulled her water flask from her mouth and drained half of it with one gulp.

"Want some?" She offered but the man was already entranced in his own little perverted book to take much notice. Shrugging, she threw the rest of the contents on to her face. Anju let out a deep sigh of relief as she could feel the cool water evaporating against her burning skin, taking the infernal energy away from her body and helped her body to relax. Somewhere above her, she could see a mother bird feeding her younglings. Enchanted she watched as the mother leave once again and disappeared into the woods, leaving her young ones to screech for more. Soon the large female was back with more food to offer. They always come back, Anju smiled to herself.

"I must congratulate you on the amount of stamina you have, the only other person I've seen with so much was Naruto." Kakashi commented with his head still stuffed behind his dirty little book. The name of his student stung her deeply. After the little close encounter they had both shared he had acted like nothing had happened, acting like the same goof he always did. But she could sense there was something off between them. For last few days she had been debating with herself about whether she should confront him or not about it. All this thinking caused her a headache and she already had enough of those with the stress already. The call of a different bird caught both of their attention as it flew high in the sky flying in circles. The man next to her was suddenly still as he watched the bird intently. It wasn't until the bird flew off that he got back to his feet. "Sorry Anju, we'll have to cut this session short." Kakashi quickly stated before disappearing in a puff of smoke. What am I supposed to do now? Anju complained as she slumped back against the ground. For once in her life she was dreading that she had no meetings to keep her occupied. She wondered if she should go and check what was going on at the hospital and see if the construction was okay. But then decided against it since she remembered the builders weren't working today and everyone else was busy working. She guessed she had no choice. She would just have to go and annoy Sakura. Though maybe she should go and take a bath first. With a new burst of energy running through her veins, Anju headed straight for the hot springs.

Now that's what I call a bath, Anju sighed happily as she wrapped the towel around her body and went over to the dressing room to get dress. Now she was going to go and annoy her pink coloured friend who should be working at the hospital today. Though as she made her way through the streets something felt a bit off. Every person she passed was whispering to each other. Seeing all these people made her very tempted to use her new lip reading abilities but knew that if she got caught it would be back to square one, since she had slowly been making some improvements with them. Though she knew when she got to Sakura's office she would find out what it was because the medic would of probably had heard it from Ino beforehand. Quicken her pace she soon reached the hospital and was surrounded by the same gossip. What the hell is going on? The Uchiha leader wondered as she made her way down the halls. Thankfully she saw a friend heading in her direction.

"Hey Hinata!" She smiled as she made her way closer to the girl but stopped herself when she saw the slumped posture and red puffy eyes. Clearly the Hyuga heiress was very upset about something. The girl looked like a complete wreck, almost like a zombie that was searching for fresh meat to keep her going. The girl would have walked right past her if she hadn't reached out and caught her by the arm. "Hinata, are you okay?" Anju asked before mentally slapping herself on the head. Of course the girl wasn't okay, you could tell from how she is now, staring at you like she suddenly wants to kill you… hang on why is she looking at me like that? She finally noticed when Hinata had turned from having the life sucked out of her to a crouching lion ready to attack. She had never seen the shy girl like this and it was a good thing that she did notice otherwise she wouldn't have been able to block the gentle fist that was aimed at her chest.

"Just stay away from me!" She hissed and stomped away. Anju could only stand there shocked. That was not Hinata. Someone had to be impersonating her or must have hit her with a poison that caused hallucinations or something. Her urgency to find Sakura intensified as she marched through the hospital walls with a new purpose. If anyone could help it would be Sakura. Finally she saw the door that had the name tag 'Dr Sakura Haruno' in big bold black letters. She did three firm taps on the door before stepping.

"Sakura there's something wrong with… Woah." Anju froze to a complete stop when she saw her brother and best friend in an odd position. Finally noticing her presence they looked at with rather stunned expressions on their faces, too shocked to move their hands away from each other "I'm so sorry." Anju almost screamed as she shut the door close behind her. Well I wasn't expecting that? She thought as she stood outside the door with a few nurses giving her curious glances. Trying to wave it off she smiled and went to sit in on of the waiting chairs nearby, so it just looked like she was waiting for an appointment. It seemed to work since the nurses slowly turned back to work. Patiently, she waited and soon enough Tadashi came out of the office his clothes placed back into their original procession.

"So how long?" His younger sister teased, resting her head on the palm of her hands as she looked up to him.

"None of your business and we ask that you keep this quiet, we don't want people to know just yet." He said calmly but his clear grey eyes were pleaded with her. She smiled back at him and rested a hand on his arm. They knew each other so well that they didn't need to talk. "You can go in and see her now." He grinned and left, properly to attend to his patients here at the hospital. Though looking around, she was sure he was going to be leaving a lot of broken hearts behind when she saw the heart shape eyes that were falling out of nurses eyes; poor things. Shaking her head, she got up and went into the office.

"I'm not telling you anything." Was the first thing that Sakura said before she could put a foot in the room. Anju had to supress a heavy sigh because she was hoping to get some juicy information out of her but she could see that the doctor was just as stubborn as her brother. Probably why he likes her? She thought to herself but quickly pushed her girly gossip needs to the back of her mind and focus on the situation at hand.

"I think there's something wrong with Hinata." Anju was quick to jump in and she explained the situation that had happen only moments before she walked in on them and how different she was to her normal self. Sakura paid attention all the way through, not letting a single emotion come to her face, though once she had finished the pink hair woman shook her head.

"I can't believe you haven't heard yet." Sakura muttered catching the Uchiha's attention quickly.

"What haven't I heard?" Anju inquired, leaning further in her chair at this new development in their conversation. The pink haired girl bit on her bottom lip, making Anju uncomfortable as she knew that meant she was trying to find and easy way to tell her. It's in these moments that you need someone like Kakashi since he would tell you straight. Bracing herself for the impact, the raven hair girl sat firm as she waited for the news to hit her.

"Basically, Naruto finally admitted to Hinata that he wasn't in love with her in front of everyone." Sakura answered and Anju mouth literally fell open. Harsh! The Uchiha leader gasped at the recently uncovered news. She knew that the Hyuga and Uzumaki had been having some difficulty in that department but to cruelly tell her the truth in public was a whole different matter. Men! Have no god damn feelings when it comes to love, she secretly cursed to herself but didn't say it out loud because she still had hope for Tadashi and knowing herself she would say something stupid in front of Sakura that would ruin that for both of them.

"But why did she attack me?" Was the question that was still haunting the edges of her mind. Though the answer she received was not one she had hoped for.

"Well… that could be because he said…um… he had feelings for you." The pink medic finally answered and this knocked Anju hard out of her seat; literally. Lying on the floor she couldn't help but think that maybe she was in a dream since stuff like this only happens in cartoons. But just as she was thinking this she could feel the pain spread through her body. Yep, defiantly not dreaming, the Uchiha mistress day dreamed as she struggled to get back on to her feet.

"You're pulling my leg right." She called out from where she stood as she fixed the chair back upright and sat down again. In response her friend gave her a shake of the head. I do not need this right now! She cursed inside her head but the annoyance was clearly showing off her face as Sakura just sent her a sympathy look. If she was going to get out of this depressing mood she needed to change the subject and fast. "So what's everyone been whispering about?" Anju through into the madness in hope that it would create some order.

"Apparently there's a rumour that a well-known ninja that was thought to be dead has returned to the village." She shrugged while scribbling on a piece of paper right next to her. "Everyone's being a sceptic in who it is but honestly it seems like no one knows." She quickly added, before crunching the paper up in frustration and tossing towards the already over flowing waste basket. That could explain why Kakashi suddenly disappeared this morning, Anju wondered but didn't jump to any assumptions just yet.

"So you're not going to give me any gossip about you and my brother." The Uchiha leader whined at her friend and Sakura only laughed at her and shushed her out the room because she had 'worked to do' for the next few hours.

Maybe I should go and check on Hinata? Anju wondered to herself as she wondered the streets of the village by herself, the rumours still travelled among the people about who these two mysterious figures were. Though she seemed to hardly care that much, she was more thinking along the lines of her brother and Sakura, it was a development she had not been expected and she blamed herself for not seeing the signs: the later night, the quiet discussions they always had and how it always seemed to be those two that disappeared out of a room. Sighing heavily, she folded her arms around her chest and trying to warm herself from the sudden breeze that had swept over the village. It was getting dark now and the sun had almost disappeared behind Hokage Mountain. The pretty scene inspired Anju to head that way and soon found herself climbing up the rocky path that lead to the top of the large rock. However, all the hard work was worth it when she finally reached the top; the view was breath taking. The scene of the village in the sunset was beyond anything she had ever seen and she had seen a lot of things in her life. All the darkness seemed to disappear and it was clear to see the children running around having fun and the adults laugh with each other. The trees that surrounded the village had and orange glow to the, so it almost looked like they were on fire but in a less menacing way. Leaning back against one of the random trees rooted into the mountains surface and just admired everything. The beautiful atmosphere was broken when she heard the sound of footsteps coming up the trail. Her hand itched towards the kunai pouch she carried and prepared to attack if necessary. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she heard the crunching getting louder and louder. Finally, the figure stepped around the ground. Dear God! Anju thought when she finally saw who it was. It was Naruto, though it looked (not to mention smelled) like he had been drinking. Honestly she didn't even take the hyperactive blonde as the drinking type.

"Naruto, are you okay?" She asked, slowly getting up from where she was to get a better look at him. The sensation to punch him had completely disappeared when she sure the stat he was in; she could always beat him to death for breaking Hinata's heart another time. However, he seemed unaware of her presence and stumbled on his own footing. Pushing all other feelings aside, she raced towards him and heaved one of his arms over her shoulder and slipped her own hand around his waist as she guided him over to the tree she had just been leaning against. "Naruto look at me!" She ordered as she began searching his vitals. Gently she placed her hand around his neck to check his pulse. The sudden skin tact seemed to make the man finally look up at her, his eyes searching trying to look for recognition. Without any warning, he reached up and secured a tender hand on her cheek. Her breath stopped at this sudden encounter and her eyes quickly looked at his hand before slowly turning back to the clear blue eyes staring back at her. Before she had to chance to do something he reached up and kissed her full on the mouth.


	16. GIRL TALK

**Girl Talk**

This should have been wrong. What she should really be doing is slapping him around the face and telling him off for such an irresponsible behaviour and that he should be off trying to see if Hinata was okay instead of getting himself drunk, somehow making it to the top of Hokage mountain without killing himself and trying to move on to her. But despite all of these things she should have been thinking she was doing completely the opposite. In fact, she would even go so far to saying she was enjoying it. It was exciting and totally new, yet her mouth seemed to automatically know what it was doing as she moved her lips with his. She had never expected his lips to feel so soft and so tendered. Somewhere through all of this madness the man somehow got the confidence to encircle his arms around her waist and pull her closer to him that she was now straddling his lap. Now her hands were clinging into his hair as she pressed herself closer to him; so close that she could feel both their hearts beating at the same exhilarating speed. But this sudden closeness to another person was not enough and her body begged for more. It seemed like his body was thinking the same way as she felt his tongue licking hungrily at her mouth and she was happy to allow him access. Instantly their tongues battle for dormince, trying to take procession of the other. If she had a choice she would have never let it stop but their privacy was soon interrupted.

"Hey kid! That one's a keeper!" A loud booming voice broken into their fantasy and Anju jumped away from him and slammed her back into a tree. Why do I always bump into stuff? She cursed herself as she rubbed the back of her head. It was only when she saw Naruto's shocked face staring right back at her did the situation at hand finally make sense. Oh shit! Was all her brain could muster from the shock. "Don't stop, I need new material for my research." The new voice cried out again and for the first time made Anju look. The man was big and was hard to miss as he had one long leg dangling from the branch he was sitting on. He was quite well built for and old looking man with red eyeliner one the bottom of his eye and on to his cheek and masses' of white hair tumbling down his back. She did not recognise him at all but the way Naruto was up on his feet and pointed and accusing finger at him, made her think he knew.

"You pervert! Couldn't you just be normal for once in your life!" He shouted up at the old man and threw a kunai at the pen the man had been using to write notes. It missed clearly, since the boy was probably seeing two of him right now in his state, though it was impossible to tell whether he was drunk on alcohol or Anju. The man just shrugged and jumped on to the ground near where she stood.

"Come on kid let an old man have a bit of fun." He pleaded before turning his attention on to her. "So you're the new Uchiha everyone's been talking about, I can see why the men have taken too fondly to you." He smiled at her. Though the small chatter didn't last long as a blonde flash moved in front of her, Naruto seemed to somehow of sobered himself up as he held a defensive position between her and the old man.

"Back off." He threatened and Anju could not help but roll her eyes. Honestly she wasn't a princess who needed saving. But in all fairness she didn't know what to do herself.

"Calm down Naruto I've been cleared, at least for now anyway." He muttered the last bit to himself. What is he talking about? Anju wondered but was cut short as the person who had been protecting her jumped forward and attacked. It only took a few seconds but the ending results were Naruto ending up on the ground with the old man sitting on top of him. As if it couldn't get any weirder!

The ceremony was tomorrow and Anju could already feel the whole weight of her shoulders crashing into her. For the third time that day she was sitting in her office reading through the list to see if everything was complete. The refurbishment for all the buildings were complete, her ceremony dress had finally been made and was now hanging in her room and finally she had written every single form and document to say she was now the proper owner of all the land. All she needed to do now was it off in front of everyone in the village plus guests. It was something she was not looking forward to.

"Stop ignoring me and give me all the gossip!" Ino damned from where she sat across the table, eyeing Anju angrily, while Sakura just sat next to her and shook her head. However, the Uchiha knew that despite her calm presence she was dying to know the same information was.

"I told you a thousand times already, I was just honest with her." I snapped angrily at her before diving into the layers of paper work stacked around me and surrounded me like a wall of a fortress. Nevertheless, it didn't stop the pale blonde screaming voice to bounce off the walls and continue to give her an ear ache.

"Yes but we want to know 'everything' how did she react, what did you say, you know all that shit." Ino's voice boomed and Anju knew that she was going to get no piece unless told them.

_It had happened the day after the indicant with Naruto and she had decided she had waited long enough sitting in the back room of her office where miles of land separated them. Though she may have stayed hidden longer if Tadashi and Sakura hadn't both come to seek her out and convinced Anju to go and visit her friend. Stupid couple, think they both know everything because they're so smart! She fumed to herself as she marched towards her place of destination. In the end she managed to make it to the front of the Huyga compound without running away so far (though she may of taking a few detours to enjoy the scenery) and with a deep breath asked the guards to allow her through the gates. They seemed to enjoy being defiant to an Uchiha until Neji came and sorted them out and offered to escort her to Hinata's rooms._

"_I fear you might have come too soon, she is still rather upset." Neji commented halfway to their destination. Thankfully, the man did not blame her for Naruto's outburst towards confessing his love for her and seemed to like the idea of beating the crap out of him instead of taking it out on her; Anju wished that she could say the same thing. Plus, she had not come unprepared; she was also carrying in her hands, chick flicks, ice-cream and chocolate. Sakura had said that these were to help Hinata on the road to recovery though Anju didn't really see the logic in the idea at all. _

"_I know but I rather talk to her in a state where she can get all of her anger out rather than pretending she's alright but is secretly holding some resentment back." Anju counselled back and the shinobi seemed to think it was a good explanation and they said nothing more until they finally reached the main house hold."Wish me luck!" She smiled as she decided which the best way to approach this was._

"_I do, you'll need it." He answered and Anju just gave him a dark glare in response to his sarcastic joke. It was very rare for the Hyuga to show any form of emotion, so she thought she would just let this time slide for being an arrogant jerk because he had a slight smile on his face. Finally he left, so she and Hinata could have some proper girl time. Taking a deep breath she knocked hard on the door._

"_Hinata, it's Anju! I bring peace offerings." She called out though the heiress probably already knew she was their because of her Byakugan but still it was better to be safe than sorry. There was no response at first and would of guest her friend was not in there if she didn't hear what sounded like sheets rustling in the background. "I know you're in there I can hear you moving and I'm not going to move as well and not for a long time at least since I have food supplies." Anju shouted at the top of her voice so there was no way the girl could ignore her. It was only a few seconds later that she heard movement again and then a few taps on the floor towards where she stood. Slowly, the door opened just a little so that she could just see her._

"_Did you bring cookie dough ice-cream?" The timid young woman inquired and Anju had to quickly search through her bag to show she had not just one box of the gestured ice cream but three. At the site, the door slid open a little more, allowing Anju entranced inside. The room was well decorated with white and purple furbishing, large and clean (apart from the bed area which had been noticeably slept in and had crunched up tissues everywhere) turning back to the heiress she handed her one of the ice creams and spoons she had brought but apart from that small gesture everything about them was tense. They both stood facing each other, not making a move._

"_Listen about the other day, I wouldn't have approached if I had know about the… thing that happened between you and Naruto. In all fairness I have no idea why he said that, until a few hours later and we just happened to kiss… It was an accident! I wasn't thinking straight at the time for some reason and I won't let it happen again because you''twantthistoeffect…" Her whole rant was cut short when Hinata slapped her hand over her mouth to stop her. Ow! She thought but could not say it out loud because it came as a muffle. Slowly, the hand move away from her face after she had properly calmed down. "Sorry about that." Anju smiled a little as she rubbed the back of her head; though she couldn't help but think Hinata got a little satisfaction from the slap._

"_I should be the one apologising." Hinata was quick to state before the Uchiha had another chance to speak. It worked too because it just left Anju speechless. "I was not angry at you or anyone else, I was angry at myself because I built this whole fantasy up that I was so blind to the truth." She spoke quietly and began undoing the lid to her ice-cream. "So, what chick flicks did you bring?" She inquired as she dug into her food and ate._

"_Does this mean I'm forgiven now or are you just using me for the food?" Anju asked only half joking since she was a little confused about how to react properly at the situation._

"_Both." The Hyuga replied with a sweet smile and even though it had not been a total fight to the death like Anju thought it would turn out to be, it was a much better way of becoming friends again._

"So are you ever going to tell us the juicy information about what happened between you and Naruto?" Ino smirked as Anju and the blonde clashed their kunai's together. It was the question she had been asking ever since Anju had finished explaining to her about her interaction with Hinata (Ino was quite upset that there had not been much of a bitch fight) it seemed the girl was not happy with her life until she knew everything that was going on. Sakura could see the burning sense to kill something grow inside Anju and decided that the best way to move the tension was to get a bit of training done. Though as soon as the pink medic had let get go to the toilet quickly, Ino began asking the annoying questions again which she didn't need. Anju had already having a hard time getting the idiot out of her heard but it was almost impossible with the dreams she was haunted with and everything she wasn't busy she could feel the way his lips moved against hers and how they gently stroked her lower back…

"Tell you what. You beat me and I'll give every single little detail you want, if I beat you then you have to ask Choji out on a date." Anju smiled as their weapons clashed once again, though with this time with full force, since the bet had caught Ino's interest.

"You are so on!" Ino cried, dragging some kunai out of her pocket and threw them at her. Quickly, Anju dived to the side, narrowly avoiding the sharp objects. Rolling back on to her feet she threw a kunai back at the blonde. It was easily dodge and both of them dived into the bushes to hide themselves. Calming herself behind a tree, the Uchiha quickly came up with a plan and setting up a small trap, moved to a different position. Climbing up into the tree, where she could easily see the training grounds, she took out another kunai from her pouch and set off the trap. Slicing through the string, three kunai flew randomly on to the field and hit a tree on the opposite. Just them another kunai that didn't belong to her flew out just a few steps away. Found you, Anju smiled as she performed a few hand seals and her whole body transformed into a flock of ravens. Flying high into the sky, the scavengers turned into a black cloud that suddenly swooped back down and into the area were Ino had disappeared to. Flying into the green wild, the birds soon located the kunochi, who by the look on her face had just realised what she had fallen into. Swirling around her, the girl was trapped into a dark void that seemed to be getting faster and faster that you couldn't see the outline of the creatures anymore. In desperation she throw some shrunken, hoping that it would dent the barrier but it seemed to cause no disturbance. Suddenly, the whirlwind started to close in on her. Ino stepped back so that she wasn't against the force but bumped into the tree trunk instead. Closing her eyes, the girl waited for the darkness to avoid her but nothing seemed to happen.

"I win!" Anju voice shot out with glee and when Ino opened her eyes to see Anju standing right in front of her. Every single cell in Ino's body wanted to jump at her and strangle the girl for almost to death but when she tried to she couldn't. Looking down the blonde woman saw that she had been tied up. "So, where do you think Choji will be taking you?" Anju laughed as her friend fought the restraints.

"Let me out of this thing!" Ino demanded but it only seemed to make the Uchiha leader laugh harder. It also didn't help that Sakura had decided to come back from her twenty minute toilet break.


	17. THE SPEECH

**The Speech**

Anju stood waiting in the hall, listening intently to the speech Tsunade was giving to the villagers of the Hidden Leaf Village. She couldn't help but laugh at some of the words the woman was using to describe her and defend her character, hoping it would help ease her presence on the crowd so they could accept her more. There was also the fact that she might have heard a slight threat hidden between the lines but she guessed it was her own insight that saw what lay underneath the lines. Her focus on the speech was suddenly broken when she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway towards her. Turning around, she came face to face with the village's number one hyperactive ninja.

"Hi, I didn't mean to startle you I just hoped we could talk." He asked with such as poor pleading look in his beautiful blue eyes that Anju refused to turn him away. Now knowing it was safe, he moved in closer and leaned on the wall opposite her. Even though they were only an arm's length away, she couldn't help but think there was an thousand miles between them. "Listen about the other day, I admit I was drunk when I kissed you, I was an emotional wreck after the pervert decided to jump out of nowhere to tell me he was still alive but in all honesty I've wanted to do that for ages. I don't know when or how but I've fallen deeply for you and I just wanted you to know…" His long speech was suddenly cut short when Anju grabbed his jacket and pulled him towards her, securing her lips on to hers. The young man seemed surprised by her actions but was more than willing to take part in the battle for ownership as their tongues battled one another. They finally stopped after a long while to take a few deep breaths.

"You've gotten better somehow." The Lady Uchiha could not help but smile as she saw the bemused look on his face.

"Now I'm a little confused." Naruto replied still not over his shock just yet and Anju could not help but think the childish innocence that was riddled all over his face was so cute. However, before she had a chance to explain, she held the Hokage called her name out to the crowd, announcing her introduction. With a quick look at the beam of light that led to the outside of the baloney back to the boy that the universe had tricked her into falling for.

"I can't explain now, will you meet me at my apartments tonight, after all this, it will give us a chance to talk." She asked and thankfully he seemed to understand her situation and nodded.

"Got any idea what you're going to say?" He asked but Anju only shook her head in disappointment.

"Nope! Completely forgot about writing it up, I'm just going to go out there and wing it." She gave him a small smile and the shinobi did nothing but just laugh at her misfortune of facing thousands of people in the city square and not knowing a word she should say to them. Still, she could only blame herself, part of the reasoning what that she had partly forgotten about doing it plus the fact that she didn't have the energy to bother about writing one in the first place.

"Just speak from the heart, that's what I usually do." His replied with a corny answer and before she could have a chance to ridicule it, she stepped forward and kissed her again. It was small and simple but it still made her belly do a thousand somersaults. "For luck." he whispered, before walking away, probably going to find his own place among the crowd to watch. Taking a deep breath she took in his advice and with slow steps walked out into the sunlight of the village. On the balcony were many people, some she recognised and others she didn't; possibly the strangers were the ambassadors and rich people she would be introduced to later. Lady Tsunade steeped away from the spot that allowed Anju access to view the whole crowd that stood before her. She tried to recognise the sea of faces but they were so blurred together that it was impossible to make out for certain who was who. With a deep breath, she spoke.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I was meant to come up with a speech but I put it off thinking I had more time, obviously you know now that time is not one of my strong suits." She began, which was soon followed by a few laughs in the crowd; it was a start. Waiting for the people to quieten again she continued. "Before I was introduced to this village I had no idea what this bloodline I had was, I believed it was just some cursed, perhaps it still is." Briefly she stopped and quickly looked to her friends who were standing on the side lines and with soft smiles on their faces encouraged her to go on. "Then I met the shinobi of the hidden leaf and they informed me of the dark history behind this kekkei genkai that I processed and it opened my eyes to a whole new world, your world. Some of you may be looking at me now and dreads that I will possibly be like the rest of this clan my eyes are descendant from. Whether I will or will not be I do not know yet, for I am still trying to undo this mystery of my heritage... I do not know many things but the one thing I want to be is just like you. Strange as it may sound I have listened to the stories of people I have come to know. Some ninjas and some just ordinary folks and that lately you have all suffered tough times. Yet... despite all of these things you've all struck together, whether it will was fighting against invaders, healing the sick or shared a roof with those who had none. You are all heroes every single day and with a little help maybe I'll be just like you. Thank you for listening." Taking a deep breath to regain some of the oxygen she had lost in her body, stepped away from the side, dreading the reaction she would receive. She had giving it all her heart and that was the best she could do. But before she had a chance to take another step a loud eruption of cheers echoed down the streets and homes of Konohagakure and she could only stare in disbelief at their reaction. She was only knocked out of it when her friends tackled her into a large hug and Anju could do nothing but laugh in joy.

After the success of performing a good speech that she still didn't believed that worked she now had the painful experience of being introduced to every single person in formal gear. It was part of getting to know the fire lands important folk since she would be playing a big diplomatic part with them in the future and needed to be acquainted with them. Thankfully, she had the help of Shizune who had sadly been left in the position of the Hokage so she could get some sake from the bar.

"How many of these people are left?" Anju hissed over to Shizune after greeting the ambassador from the land of lightning who like all the rest had possible candidates who would just love to help her reproduce the sharingan bloodline. Honestly she had not had one decent conversation with any of the guests; they were either interested in helping reproduced children, helping her to expand her fortunes or both. Every so often she would look at the clock to witness what time she would be able to go home but it seemed to move slower then she had hope.

"Just three more guests, then a bit of mingling on the dance floor and then you can do whatever you want." The assistant whispered back and Anju could only roll her eyes. It was just three more greetings and then she could go and see Naruto, she was sure that he wouldn't be here, not with all these fancy dressed up people. "Though I think getting a drink would be out of the question since Tsunade and Jirayia have seemed to down the whole everything already." The dark beauty pointed in the direction of the bar, following her route, the Sharingan holder saw that she was right and that two of the Leaf's most powerful ninja were totally intoxicated. She felt ashamed of herself when she burst out laughing at the scene but it was just too funny. After she calmed herself she met with the rest of the nobility of the hidden leaf. Why couldn't I be born a man? She wondered when she was promise the hand of a high born son that was sure to give her many healthy baby boys. Sure it's easy for them, they don't have to carry an extra person for nine months, she swore and that was only the normal people, Tadashi had told her stories of women who had given births months over their deadline. Just one more greeting then it will all be over, Anju told herself as Shizune whispered in her ear the name of the last person she would have to shake. As she stood in her greeting area, Anju's eyes wondered around the room, trying to find some of her friends that would have been attending, so she could just go and meet them as soon as this last introduction was finished.

"Lady Anju it is good to finally meet you." A baron toned for called to her, focusing her arrange back to the task at hand. Searching for the strange, her eyes meet the presence of a well-built man in his forties, dressed in a blue formal gown and had light brown hair surrounding his features. Next to stood what looked like a younger version of the man that was around her age with a dark suit on. However, instead of the friendly face his father portrayed the son had a miserable haunted look on his face like this was the last place he want to be.

"Lord Lee, it is good to make your acquaintance." The lady greeted with a forced a smile as she just barely remembered what his name was. Holding out her hand, she waited for the man to take it and kiss it like every other single person had down; honestly, Anju didn't understand the need for it since it was very unhygienic. Everything started off normal as the man took her hand to perform the act but as soon as his cold lips touched her skin an icy shiver went up her spine. She had a bad feeling about this man, a very, very bad feeling. Next, the son did the same thing also causing a similar response. There was something off about these two but what was the cause of all this uncertainty she could not place. All she knew that she was glad her goose bumps were hidden by the long sleeves of her robe.

"Let us hope that we get better acquainted, as you may know, our family and the Uchiha family have been trading together for decades and hopefully a few more." The older man laughed lightly and despite her discomfort forced the fake smile to stay on her face to be polite.

"That is a kind thing to say Lord Lee, I don't not see any reason why our families cannot work together for many years to come." She lied, as she made getting the old trading forms once again on the top of her list so she could find some reasonable cause to get rid of them and never speak to them again.

"We can only hope Lady Anju and perhaps there will be some arrangement we could make with bonding the two families together." His smiled as he gestured to the boy next to him who only had a blank expression on his face.

"Yes we can hope." The sharingan beholder answered secretly thinking that there was no way something like that was going to happen. Wanting to get this over and done with she performed a simple bow. "Good day to you Lord Lee and Master Lee, perhaps we will see each other again soon." So not happening, Anju spoke inside her head as she watched the two men bow.

"Very well my lady, it was nice to finally meet you." The Lord smiled and with the simple gesture of his hand ordered his son to follow as they made their way into the crowd of people. There's defiantly something not right about them, Anju thought as she felt the sudden presence of evil be lifted from her station.


	18. LOVE IS IN THE AIR

**Love is in the Air**

Anju walked down the streets of the village by herself, some of her friends had offered to walk her home but really she just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet for a little while longer. The calm night air was very comforting with its tender breeze gently caressing the sides of her cheeks and she was helped down the path by the silver moonlight that illuminated the trail ahead, so she was guided home with a feeling of tranquillity. Once she had entered the Uchiha compound she checked the houses that had people living in them to see if anyone was still awake but there was nothing. She wasn't surprised, it was the middle of the night and she knew that Hansuke and Jin had returned early because they had a lot of work to do the next morning, with her red head companions weapon shop becoming popular by the day and Jin was busy treating and teaching animal's ninja commands with the help of her faithful feline friend. The last house she checked was her brothers, which was completely deserted as a result of him and Sakura spending some alone time at her apartment. A small smile spread across her face as the Uchiha thought of tonight's events, her medical friend had been harassed by some stuck up lord who was determined to get the pink coloured woman to dance with him and Tadashi had to stand in. It was clear by his actions (translated, telling the man to fuck off and basically kissed her in front of everyone) telling everyone that the two people were an item. Ino was mad to find out that Anju knew about it before anyone else, while Tsunade –in her drunken state- tried to attack Tadashi for thinking he could touch the girl she considered a daughter in her eyes for performing such an act on the girl. The whole situation didn't die down until her brother promised to help the old woman sneak alcohol passed Shizune into her office during hours she had to do paperwork. Anju couldn't help but laugh out loud as she fiddled inside her pocket for the keys. The Hokage certainly had her ways of getting what she wanted. Rubbing her tired eyes, she felt like she would collapse from the need of sleep any moment. But first she had one more task ahead of her the need fixing. As she approached her house, she saw a figure hidden in the shadows of her porch. It wasn't until they stepped forward into the light that she knew who it was by the orange jacket and blonde spiky hair.

"How long have you been waiting here?" She asked, seeing that his skin was pale from the cold of the night and that he was beginning to form shadows under his eyes.

"Only a little while." Naruto shrugged though Anju doubted whether that was the truth or not. For the moment she let it go as she opened the door and ushered him into the house for warmth. She directed him to the kitchen where she made them both a cup of tea to help warm them up. They stayed on opposite's sides of the room, not knowing what to do say or act around each other which was completely different from this morning when they had been willing to share a few kisses with each other. Both of them sat in nothing but silence, something that was very unusual for the hyperactive blonde.

"I guess I should explain why I changed my mind right?" Anju was the first to break the silence. Slowly, he looked up from the swirls in her tea and into his baby blue eyes instead. The ninja nodded to the question, still unable to find any words to describe the situation they were in. Taking a deep breath she explained…

_Anju, Sakura and Ino had just finished their training session in the woods. The medic and the halfblooded Uchiha were having fun mocking the mind swapping girl since it was them she was usually teasing about their non-existent love lives; it was nice to have it the other way around for a change. Though the blonde wasn't taking it too well and matters were only made worse when Sakura mention that she wouldn't have to worry much about her diet because Choji would be eating most of the food. The small group had just turned the corner when they noticed a small figure with long purple hair leaning against the entrance of the Uchiha compounds._

"_Hinata what's up?" The pink medic was the first to greet as they made her way over to the Hyuga heiress. The new comers' attention was drawn away from the birds that she had been watching flutter around in the sky and greeted them all with a warm smile._

"_Hi everyone." She responded in her usual quiet voice but didn't hide her face in the collar of her coat._

"_We were just about to go into town and help Ino pick out a new dress for her date, you want to come?" Anju asked and sent an evil grin over to the pale blonde who just folded her arms across her chest in a huff. Ino could be such a princess sometimes._

"_Sure but I was hoping I call talk to Anju alone first." The Hyuga heiress inquired. All the looks sent startled looks at each other before the Uchiha clan head just shrugged._

"_We'll meet you guys at the Ramen Bar later." She told her other two friends and guided Hinata through the Uchiha compound with the two other women looking on from the outside before they decided to disappear to their own apartments to catch a quick shower. Nothing was said between Anju and the shy heiress as the made their way down the streets of the compound until they reached the main household._

"_I've been thinking lately and I've decided I want you to go ahead with your relationship with Naruto." The shy Hyuga said out of nowhere that Anju nearly dropped the china cup she was using to make a drink with. Whizzing around on her heel, the newest arrival of the village could not help but just stare at her friend in surprise. The other day she had bloodshot eyes from crying so much because the one boy she loved turned her down for another girl and now she was just handing the man right into her hands; she was completely confused at the moment. "I realised that even though I've been waiting for the boy I've been crushing on to ask me out doesn't mean I should stop everyone else's life from continuing because of my own pleasures." The shy girl explained to her and took a sip of the tea. While the girl just acted normal, Anju just stood there with her mouth wide open like the person that was sipping some herbal tea was an alien that had just land. As a matter of fact maybe it was an alien who had taken over her friends mind. Swallowing so that her dry throat became moist, allowing her the ability to speak. _

"_Are you sure about this I mean it's not something you can just sweep of the shoulder like a speck of dust?" Anju exclaimed, she knew that little things could turn into big things when you mess with emotions. She had lived her whole life breaking a promise that crushed people's dreams and they made her life a living night mare. With something like this you had to take it rather gently. The Hyuga looked back up with her with clear eyes that sparkled brightly with a happiness that she had not seen in the last couple of days._

"_I'm sure, I think I'm starting to have feelings for someone else." Hinata answered and Anju almost choked on her drink._

"_Well that was quick." Anju spluttered out before she realised the accusation behind it. "Oh sorry! I didn't mean like that-"_

"_I know you didn't." Hinata laughed at her friends apologising nature and patted her gently on the shoulder. "Go on and get changed, I explain who it is while we help Ino prepare for her date." With that Uchiha dashed out of the door and quickly prepared herself wanting to know who the mystery new man was._

As soon as Anju finished explaining the recent development of the Konohagakure village the kitchen turned back into silence again. She wasn't even sure if Naruto had been paying attention to what she had been saying, since he had just been staring into his tea the whole time while she had been explaining the whole story. It must of sounded stupid to him the whole thing but she had been told by her female friends that boys never really understood girl talk. Suddenly, Naruto looked up and Anju had to catch her breath. There was something intense about the way he was staring at her right now. She felt her whole body tense and was unsure with what to do. Carefully, the blonde man placed his cup aside and made his way over to her, stopping only half a step from her.

"So if I were to kiss you right now there would be no consequences." He smirked happily and a deep breath of relief escaped the Uchiha's girl's lips and she couldn't help but smile as well.

"You'll just have to find out." She sneered as she finally got the courage to lean forward and attached her lips to his.

Two weeks later and for some strange reason Naruto's and Anju clicked liked they had been dating happily forever. The girl never knew how much of a romantic the village's hyperactive number one ninja could be, their first proper date had been on top of Hokage mountain with a whole picnic set up with fairy lights hanging from the tree branches, though it had been sadly ruined half way through a making out session and they could hear a man giggling somewhere in the trees. The rest of her night was based on hunting the old pervert down and beating the shit out of him. Tsunade seemed to think it was the most appropriate way to make her old team mate learn his lesson once Naruto had managed to convince her to drop his old sensei off at the hospital; now everyone was beginning to think a third mini Tsunade had entered the village hidden in the leaves. As soon as someone said this the whole ninja world echoed with man's sorry groans; though Naruto didn't seemed to mind, in fact he thought her bad temper made her look sexy. That was when the nation suddenly heard woman moan all over the world as they realised there was another toad sage in the world. They didn't really care though; they were just blissful being together. It seemed the bug was getting caught by other villagers since everyone was getting into couples. However, there was one person who was reluctant to join in.

"Would you get a room!" Kakashi complained and Sakura and Tadashi stopped what they were doing instantly, they both gave him a glare once they realised the copy nin was lying on his back with his perverted book on top of his face.

"Seriously Kakashi, you're telling us that with that thing sitting on your face?" Tadashi pointed out but the only response was a shrug from the lazy shinobi. Naruto and Anju only laughed at the scene. The man seemed perfectly fine with letting fantasies unfold in his mind but any public affection seemed to make him very uncomfortable. Sometimes, Anju couldn't help but wonder if her pink medic friend was only doing it to annoy her teacher since it was the one thing that seemed to really ruffle his feathers. It was quite entertaining since before it seemed that the man didn't really care about anything before. But now Sakura had decided it was time for payback for all the other times he had annoyed her.

"You're just jealous sensei because you're the only man in Konoha that's not getting his brain fucked at the mo." She teased and stuck her time out at her former teacher.

"Naruto's still a virgin though!" The copy nin called out in protest and all eyes turned to the couple who until then had been staying out of the whole battle.

"And it's going to stay that way." Tadashi pointed out, his grey eyes glaring at the blonde like sharp iron and despite himself, Naruto couldn't help but nod at the order. Though in reality, Anju knew that her brother was only joking since their old clan had a loose policy on sex back in their clan, in fact if you got accidently pregnant it was seen as a good thing because it meant another solider in the clan; though Anju never really knew if she decided it was a good thing or a bad thing. Kakashi just rolled his eyes and placed his back in his face, muttering something like how he'll never understand why his students stopped listening to him. However, their tranquillity was ruined when an explosion erupted from the north side of the gate. Everyone was on their feet within seconds and charging towards the chaos. War had finally come to Konohagakure.


	19. THE FIRST FLAMES OF WAR

**The First Flames of War**

The group of ninja's ran at fall speed towards the explosion; their emotions cut off and replaced with years of warrior training. Emotions did not make you weak but they could get in the way if not properly controlled. Only after a few minutes they were able to reach the scene of chaos. At the same moment another explosion went off. All of them had to dive out of the way to avoid being hit by the massive flames. Around them, other leaf shinobi were already busy working on water type jutsu's to put out the beastly flames. Tadashi contributed to the efforts by performing a few hands seals of his own, he stood in a stance that was similar to that of a fire breathing technique but instead of more fire coming from his mouth, freezing cold air fell on the flames. Slowly, his skill took effect as the fire slowly began to disappear, being replaced by ice instead. Kakashi helped by performing his own water dragon jutsu from a lake nearby, the beast rose from river letting out a might roar before it descended upon remaining flames, wiping it all out completely. From where the fire hadn't been burning along the walls, shinobi stood at the top fighting off whoever was attacking on the main side. Instantaneously, Sakura and Tadashi went to those who had been wounded and began treating them, while the other three, jumped up to the walls to help. The sight before them was not pretty. Hundreds of clones raced forward, each had the same white skin, crazed eyes and sharp pointy teeth and looked like there were endless amounts of them. No way! Anju thought in horror as she took out her katana and swung it at one of these strange creatures that had been crawling up the side of the walls before it had a chance to take out one of the other ninja's standing beside her, her violet eyes exploring into a blood red colour as her sharingan was activated. With one sweep the head came off, its head fell to the ground and disappeared in the raging clone army that did not even flinch of the site of one off their own being taken out. The Uchiha was confused; she had been told that the Akatsuki was a small group of powerful rogue ninja's trying to take over the world? No one had mentioned these strange things. She growled at the thought of the men who threaten to bring harm to this village she had quickly come to love; she wasn't one to admired nasty tricks.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" She heard Naruto shout somewhere behind her and suddenly a hundred blondes with orange jackets appeared along the frontline bettering their odds. If it hadn't been such a serious situation, Anju would have enjoyed the fact of having a hundred Naruto's at her disposal. All of the clones cried out as they jumped into the air and descended upon the army like a hundred arrows flying through the air and hitting the enemy with deadly precision. For the first time in her life, Anju felt a dreaded fear grip her stomach and twist it painfully as she tried to identify which one was the real person. All of them fought at least one of the clones. Every time she would gasp when one of the enemy clones stuck a deadly blow on a Naruto and then sighed in relief when she saw the person suddenly disappeared in grey smoke. She was finding it hard to focus on her own battles as her sword blocked and attacked every single enemy she came across. In the battled they realised the only way to destroy these creatures was to completely mutilate them. It was not a pretty sight but it needed to be done. Slashing another white clone in half, her eyes searched the surroundings around her, looking for the next clone that was about to attack her. While she did this, Anju took in that the numbers of the oncoming army were starting to dwindle and that soon they would have no choice but to retreat or allow every single one of them to die. Jumping back from the chaos and shifted her katana back into its sheath, she quickly began looking along the lines of men she looked for the main commandeered of this side. Finally she spotted Ibiki and ran over to them.

"Ibiki, I need you to get all the shinobi to retreat!" She shouted at the top of her voice so he would be able to hear her over all the chaos. The man turned at looked at her with complete and utter shock.

"Are you mad? We've nearly got them running for the hills." Another shinobi nearby shouted back at her when he overheard what she had just said to the commander. Anju felt frustration grow through her from the man's comment but chose to ignore it and focus only on Ibiki.

"Trust me, I have a plan." Was all she said as she looked at the man's eyes, begging him to believe her and trust in what she could do. She knew the plan would work but she needed all the people on their side to get away from the battle field unless they wanted to be chopped down themselves or allow more men to die trying to finish the rest of them off. The man with the scared face looked at her for only a second before calling the signal to retreat.

"This better work!" He ordered as the interrogator turned back to her, his eyes narrow and direct as they stared at her. She held them and gave him a firm nod in response. This was no time for child's play; this had to work. Stepping back, Anju placed her two hands together as she began to focus the right amount of chakra to flow through the channels. Usually, she would close her eyes to help her concentrate but she didn't dare until she saw every last leaf nin back on the wall. The shinobi fought their way back to the safety of the main walls, all confused to what was going on and why they retreated. Once all that was done the halfblooded Uchiha focused all her energy into performing the correct sequence of hand seals quicker than a flash of lightening. Suddenly her whole body explored and millions of black ravens drove down upon the enemy. The white clone army laughed simultaneously with each other, thinking what a bunch of birdies could do. That was until the animals began to morph into large shrunkens. Before any of them had a chance they quickly found themselves in a horrifying situation as they were all being cut down one by one. Arms, legs and other unmentionable human parts were being sliced from the owner's body. In the end, there was not one single corpse that did not have more than three limbs detached and now lay somewhere among the other bodies that had gotten mixed up among the chaos. Finally the weapons turned back into birds which flew back into the air and back over to the walls, colliding into one another as they formed back into Anju's human shape. Once she was one again she looked up and her eyes took in the mascara she had created. The horrible thing was that this battle would not be the last or the worse any of them would have to face.

After that surprise attack security was being tighten everywhere, including the Uchiha compound, where Tadashi was setting up their special family jutsu while Jin plus Anju were setting up traps among the woodland area and Hansuke was preparing some of the shinobi who had volunteered to guard the small emergency hospital in the compound for the around the clock scouting missions they would be performing. The whole village was tense after rumours of the white clone army started to spread from ear to ear, turning everyone on alert. If people didn't believe that a war was going to happen then they sure did now. What Anju hated the most was the news that she had received from the council meeting that the intelligence unit had been informed of these strange creatures but didn't bothering thinking of telling anyone until they had more information that would strengthen the argument of their existence. Thankfully, she had been saved from showing off a terrible temper trauma when Tsuande head blew up and fired the head official, replacing him with Inochi who was more than willing to pass on the information his teams had gathered, not just on the clones but other information they had collected on the Akatsuki as well. Once Jin and the Uchiha women were satisfied with the results of their own handy work they returned to the compound, only to find Tadashi jogging over to them.

"Good that you're back; I was just coming to get you." He smiled as he led to the two women into Anju's work office. It all looked the same, expected the mirror with the obsience frame that was now behind her desk. To anyone else it would have seemed like a completely strange place to put a mirror or in fact to even have it in this type of environment meant but to the small group was delighted to see it.

"You finished earlier than I expected." Anju commented, as she traced the edge of the frame and inspected it. Tadashi just shrugged off the compliment like it was nothing but that didn't stop a little smug smile drawing up around his mouth.

"Now one no can get passed our detection system." He smiled with glee and everyone laughed. The mistress of the compound decided to test out the new contraption and sending a bit of charka to her hand she touch it, only for the images in the mirror to changed and form into eight different parts. Using their families' special techniques Tadashi was able to perform special seals that acted like security cameras, no one could take them out without knowing the proper code and the only ones to know that were Tadashi and Anju. Plus, even if the person used some kind of cloaking technique to disguise themselves, the seals would still sense their presence and pinpoint their exact location. They system was too advance for this century that their last clan had been extremely careful not to let it fall into enemy hands (obviously something they had forgotten about when they chuck the four members out) Anju smiled proudly at the system, if there was one person that could pull it off successfully then it was Tadashi, out of all three of the Tsukiko leaders children it was the eldest who had managed to completely control the whole family's techniques. The thoughts of their odd clan suddenly turned down her smile, she had tried not to think about it ever since they had arrived and had been successful right up to this moment. The Uchiha knew she would never recover from the scars completely but they only made her strong and she would need all her strength to face the hard ships she would have to face in the future; soon.

Running the last checks of her shift, Anju checked over the patients that lay in the beds of the hospital. She may not be able to perform medical ninjutsu's like her brother but she knew detailed knowledge about the human body and knew how to treat most injuries, diseases and most important of all could withstand the whole blood bath of picking up a man's insides and putting them back inside the human body. Thankfully there were only a few causalities during the fight and only one or two had critical injuries. Everyone who had been fighting in wars for most of their lives knew that days like this were lucky, so it was better to take in the gratitude that it had not been much heavier because all of the villagers knew that occasions like this did not come for every battle. One day, there would be a battle so intense that it would kill you to keep leaving through the chaos. Taking a short break from her work, Anju looked up in the direction of where her brother was working, happily chatting to the shinobi in the beds next to them as he fixed a man's arm. Someone must have said a joke or something because the whole crowd started laughing, including Tadashi. The Uchiha dreaded the thoughts of her eldest brother being on the front lines, taking care of the wounded. In the battle field, it was the medics who were the most in danger because they would be trying to heal hundreds of comrades in heavily dangerous territory were they wouldn't be able to protect themselves to their full extent. The thought of losing him was too much for Anju and she had to grip the side of a bed to stop herself from falling from so many overwhelming emotions. When she looked back up she saw her brother looking directly at her. Both knew what each other were thinking and tried to send comforting smiles across the room to one another. The journey ahead of them would be filled with pain, anger and death, they just hoped they would survive it, whether the outcome was good or bad.


	20. FRUSTRATION

**Frustration**

Over the last couple of weeks, the village had been receiving similar reports from the other hidden villages reporting that they had assaults from the white clone army attacking their village fortifications directly but still no sign of Madara or any other Akasuki members. Everyone could feel that something else was being set into motion on the enemy's side but intelligence had failed to find any information that could locate him or give any hint to what his plans might be. The feeling of not knowing was starting to build frustration in everyone in the village and was causing everyone to tense. It was the same way Naruto was feeling and Anju could tell by the need to blow up the poor training dolls with his Rasengan as she watched from the other side of the field doing one of her own work outs. Though she rather watch the dummy suffer then herself as he just complain a lot about sitting in the village doing nothing. After a while, she noticed that Naruto had used up to much of his charka and went to rest. Finishing up her own exercise, Anju sneaked up behind her boyfriend before tackling him to the ground.

"Feel better?" She smirked, straddling the man and buckled him to the ground. A wide foxy grin spread across the blonde's face. For a second she was all confused until she felt the slight pressure on her thighs and suddenly found herself flipped over; now he was the one on top. I guess I deserve that, she sighed and enjoyed the sweet touch of his lips on her neck. Suddenly, he bit hard into her neck and Anju arched up her back in both pain and pleasure, allowing Naruto to ravage the skin better with his teeth and tongue. Her hands gripped harder into his hair.

"What you doing?" A lazy toned voice suddenly popped into the air and the couple were up on their feet within seconds.

"Kakashi sensei! What are you doing here?" Naruto growled low as his teeth snarled and eyes narrowed dangerously at his old teacher who only seemed unfazed as he continued to read his pervy book, peeping at the from over the stop every now and again. She didn't know how her boyfriend was able to control himself because she could only stand there in shock with her face turning ten different shades of red. The older shinobi did one of his famous eye crinkles.

"I asked the question first." The teacher said as his smile grew larger under his mask, you could clearly see that the old teacher knew he had stumble onto something intermit. It was then that Anju was able to snap out of dazed state and her fury grew; ten times intensified then Naruto's own anger that the nine tailed fox could sense it and withdraw deeper into his cage.

"You've got ten seconds to run Kakashi, one, two…" Anju hand slipped into her pouch and draw out a kunai. The silver haired shinobi caught on to it instantly and threw his hands up in surrender.

"Hey Anju there's no need…" The older man tried to plead but it was already too late.

"Ten!" She shouted and drove for him. The shinobi jumped back immediately, only just dodging the sharp blade. Flipping back a few feet, Kakashi stayed in a kneeling position and held out on of his own blades right in front of him, his eyes narrowed dangerous at her. Though his concentration was broken for a spilt second when he noticed thin strands of silver hair float in front of his face and on to the ground.

"Hey! I just had a haircut." The shinobi retorted but the only response was three shrunken aimed at his head again. Now he had to focus his attention to running away as Anju chased after him, screaming at the lazy ninja to face her like a proper warrior so she could kick his ass. Meanwhile, Naruto was left standing in the training ground, rooted to the spot from shock. What happen to the other numbers? Was the only thing that the blonde man could think before deciding to get a bowl of ramen and hope that he wouldn't need to convince his girlfriend to take his poor sensei to the hospital again. At least if Kakashi disappeared all of a sudden they would know the first person to ask.

Anju sat in the council meeting, discussing the compounds developments for the guest that would be attending the village soon and how well the hospital had done for the first assault on Konohagakure grounds. The meeting didn't last very long, since Danzo wasn't there for some reason and apart from the two advisors throwing a concerned whine here and their throughout her talk the meeting went by quite swiftly. There was also the news reports from intelligence that had to be read through and then Lord Hyuga announced her would like to donate some of his personal funding and personal doctors to the cause. Anju had to use all her might not to cry out in joy at the new achievement but did the proper lady like thing and politely thanked him for his contributions; they would need all the support they could get. With the meeting adjourned, Tsunade asked the young girl if she wanted to join her for drinks and the Uchiha mistresses agreed, saying she would meet her later once she had been to the ladies room. However, her journey back to the Hokage's office was interrupted when she found herself pulled into a closet. Before she punch the son of a bitch in the face, she recognised the familiar movement of her lovers lips on hers. They stayed like that embrace for a moment before he finally released her from his spell.

"You idiot, I could of seriously hurt you." Anju snapped at him and gave him a half-hearted punch in the chest. The man winced but did not seem considerate of his actions and just shrugged it off.

"Sorry but I missed you." He smiled and she couldn't help but melt at it, all his sins completely forgiven. "Plus, I wanted to know if you were free tonight so I can treat you out to dinner." Naruto quickly added on and for some reason, she laughed.

"Yes I am but right now I'm late to see a Hokage over drinks and you know she doesn't like to be kept waiting over her sake." Anju pointed out and she could see her boyfriend's baby blue eyes cringe at the thought of a pissed of Tsunade made to wait for her good old alcohol. Quickly, they made arrangements for later and went their separate ways.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Anju couldn't believe she had allowed Ino to convince her to buy this dress. It was a deep shape of red with thin straps and its length came half way down my thighs. I had never seen such a provocative dress before and even though I was nervous about wearing it I knew that if Naruto saw it then he would from blood lost. The thought made me giggle and for a second I felt comfortable to wear it. Then the doorbell went. Oh he's here! She thought, almost felt like jumping into her cardboard and hide in there. Taking a deep breath, she made herself walk down stairs in her ridiculous black high heels and opened the door. The boy didn't have much of a chance to say anything when his eyes feel on the dress hugging her body and fainted; a little bit of blood dripping from his nose. Anju wasn't sure if she should laugh or take him to see a doctor.

"Oh come on Naruto, it wasn't that embarrassing." She tried to comfort him hours after the instant but the teenager still had his arms sealed tight around his chest in protest and had a miserable looking pout on his face. To annoy him even more she took off his jacket and threw it at him.

"Easy for you to say." He cursed back as they walked back to her house. "You didn't have to tell Sakura that you fainted because your pervy senses went into overdrive." He admitted and Anju could not help but roll her eyes. I knew wearing this dress was a bad idea, she moaned inwardly to herself. It wasn't hard to miss the perverted stares that the little dress had caught from people at the hospital. Another thing that she had learnt that night apart from Naruto delicate senses was that he was very over protective. Once he had come to his senses, her lover had noticed all the stares that other men were throwing their wear and forced her to wear his jacket while giving off killer vibes to them. In all fairness she thought that he was being a little unfair about the dress.

"Oh Naruto you're such a baby, who knew you would get so worked up about a dress." Anju complained as she managed to unlock her door. However, before she could step inside he sneaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"A very sexy dress." He replied as he hooked one of his fingers around the strape and pulled it down so he had a better area to place his lips against her skin and began performing wonders that sent Anju nerves into overdrive. She couldn't stop the pleasurable moan that escaped her mouth and didn't care when she felt his mouth form into a smirk. They pushed themselves into the house and dragged him up to the bedroom. Both flopped on to the smooth silk covers, their hands and tongues ravaged each other's bodies. She was so into it that she had not noticed her man pushing her dress up higher and higher. It wasn't until she felt his hand brush against the top of her womanhood and was trying to pull down her pants. Throwing her hands against his chest she pushed him off her and on to the floor. A loud gasped escaped her mouth as soon as she realised what she had done.

"Oh Naruto I'm so sorry!" She cried out and tried to lift the surprise man back on to his feet.

"What happened?" He asked, a worry tone in his voice. What had happened? Anju asked herself and bowed her head in shame. Reading her like a book, Naruto shifted his hand under his chin and forced her to look at the shining blue orbs. "It's okay you're not ready." He smiled and they both collapsed back on to the bed.

"I don't know why you're in such a rush anyway; I hear it's meant to be rubbish the first time." I joked but in all honesty it was not far from the truth either. Knowing he had lost the battle, Naruto sighed and rolled on to his side next to her, circling one of his muscle arms around her body and pulled her close. The warmth of his chest radiated off around the room and Anju slipped her pale cold arms around him as she embraced this small comfort. That night they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Anju listen to the two employees complain as she continued sighing documents for trade, permissions and requests. It was a skill she had quickly taught herself to learn, so that her office work would not be held up by whiners like these. As she half listen, she wondered why these two women had come to her in the first place since the situation had nothing to do with her at all. The lady was use to hearing people whine about how construction developers were having troubles with her layouts, guards arguing over time routes and doctors moaning about their patients. But never had she come across two nurses fighting over a guy and wanted her to sort them out. How the hell was she supposed to know which girl the guy liked more? At first whole thing had been amusing but right now the cursing and bitching had taken a new toll and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"Alright that's enough." Anju ordered with a firm tone that made the screaming nurses shut their mouths instantly. "Look girls, if you really want to know which one he likes more you're going to have to ask him yourself, I can't pick for you or for him." She explained and this seemed to sink into the females heads. If only they had considered that in the first place, the halfblooded Uchiha wondered as they left the room. Stretching out her muscles, Anju looked out her working window to see it was a perfectly good day to go outside. Quickly coming to a decision, she tossed a light cardigan over her work clothes and secured her office. A half an hour's walk wouldn't hurt anybody or stop the over-flowing amount of folders from being done today so it was best to enjoy the sunshine while it was still around. Following a path down the southern end of the compound, Anju decided it was the best time to explore the forests of her land since she had only been able to admire them from afar. The shades of the trees were a blessing for her heavy formal clothes and the fresh air did good instead of the musty old office smell. It did not take long for her to reach a river and out of curiosity began to follow. The small river was so that the Uchiha mistress was shocked when she turned around the corner to find a large pond and mini waterfall. Oh wow! She could not help but admire as she stepped into a clearing only to bump right into someone.

"I apologise miss, I did not know you were there." A low toned voice mumbled and Anju could not stop herself from her body tensing when she recognised the voice. Taking in his appearance the man wore a ratty black clock with red clouds painted on and a large straw hat that covered his face. Akasuki! The word flew around Anju head like a bolt of lightning bouncing from one metal rode to the other.

"I know you." She half whispered as she portrayed her voice out loud but there was something about him that made all her nerves tickle. The beating of her heart rushed to her brain as she tried hard to think of how she knew this man.

"Are you a leaf ninja?" He asked, ignoring what she had just said altogether.

"Yes." She hastened a reply and tried to put on a more authorise voice but knew she was failing miserably. "And who are you?" She demanded to know from him because if this person was from the Akasuki that meant he was dangerous and she needed to know what she was up against. Slowly, the stranger lifted his head from the ground and stared in her direction but could not look at her. It was only when she examined his eyes that she noticed, one was gone and the other was completely white. He's blind! Anju screamed inside her head, trying to recall from the file if she had met anyone like this before but could not find anything that matched.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha." He answered, taking his hat off in the process so she could get a good look at him. "I'm here to turn myself in."


	21. THE RETURN OF ITACHI UCHIHA

**The Return of Itachi Uchiha**

The scene that was unfolding before everyone was the last thing anyone could ever think could possibly happen right now. Itachi Uchiha was here! In Konohagakure! Giving a full confession to the interrogation people! It was completely insane. Then again, so was finding a long lost half-blooded Uchiha and the toad sage coming back from the dead. Anju knew odd stuff happened around war times but this was unlike anything she had heard of as she stood behind the two way mirror and watched Ibiki talking to him. In a strange way, despite everything that the rogue ninja had done, she could not stop her heart going out to him. And as he revealed the truth behind his betrayal off his clan, it made the whole situation worse to understand. For once in her life, Anju idea of what was right and wrong was clouded.

"How's it going?" Tsunade asked making the young woman jump; she had not heard the Hokage come in.

"He's says there should be a document under the thirds signature to prove the killings were authorised." Was all Anju said since the interrogation was not yet over and probably wasn't going to end for a long time. She heard a small thud next to her to see a brown file placed next to her.

"I finally found it among the classified s-rank missions." Tsunade stated but by the sound of her voice, the leader seemed to be just as confused as everyone else in this matter.

"I still can't believe he made such a hard choice." Anju whispered loudly, as the words seemed too delicate to say out loud. To choose between peace or your whole blood line was a decision that she hoped she would never have to make. A warm hand rubbed her back in comfort and Anju looked up into the amber eyes of Tsunade, who seemed to be thinking along the same lines as she was. "What's going to happen to him?" The seventeen year old dare ask but knew the question was going to come up sooner or later.

"I'll have to do a medical exam on him and see how fit he is then I'll have to find somewhere safe to put him." The older woman answered and Anju nodded in understanding.

"I'll take him, he is an Uchiha after all and I think the compound will be the safest place for him. Plus, he can answer a lot of questions for me." Anju answered before she could stop herself but knew she wouldn't take it back anyway. Already her mind was coming up with plans to get the council to agree with him.

"Fine. I'm making it an order so the council can't say anything against it." The old woman stated and the half-blooded Uchiha couldn't help but smile. This woman was like a mother to her and seemed to look out for her in all the possible ways a hokage could help and more. "I'll also boost security at your house, I have a feeling you'll be facing many other challenges taking this on." The Hokage added and the girl nodded in agreement.

It turned out the Hokage was right. Only a week had gone by and already three men had been caught trying to sneak past security. Two of them Hansuke and his territory guards found on patrol and the other one, Jiraiya just happened to stumble upon when he claimed to just be going for a casual stroll (everyone knew he was trying to do 'research' on the women's bathrooms) but all of them had died instantly when taking them to interrogation, later reports on the autopsy showed that an suicide pill had been placed in their stomach; the doctors hadn't found one intact enough to know how it had been set off. Another thing that bothered Anju was actually having Itachi Uchiha in her house. She had never really dealt with him personally apart from taking him in for questioning, she had other people that Tsunade had suggested to her to take care of him. Just because he was blind didn't mean he was any less dangerous. It was beginning to get hard to not think of the man that lived in the lower part of her house. A knock from the door got her to look up from her paper work to see one of the old nurses working at the hospital at her door.

"I'm sorry to bother you but there are some men here dropping off medical supplies and they need your signature." The old lady informed her. Quickly, Anju placed her work to the side and rushed down to meet the delivery people. It didn't take long to sign the paperwork and help move the crates of supplies into the store rooms. It was on the way back to her rooms that the problem aroused. Crash! The sound of fragile objects being knocked to the ground. With my senses on full alert I ran to the direction of the noise; my kunai out and ready. But as I came to the door frame of the room, the site had not been what I expected. Poor Itachi was on the floor next to a broken vase that would usually be sitting on the bed side table. Soon my protective senses overcame my shinobi instincts and suddenly I was at his side helping him to his feet. Where's the carer? I wondered as I placed the man back into the seat he had fallen from.

"Thank you." He managed to muster up between his heavy breathing. Again, her heart went out to him. The man was dying, though Tsunade was working on a treatment that might save him though the chances were very limited. The man's health was not the best that she was even more surprise by how he was able to get all the way to the Hidden Leaf Village without a scratch on him. Nevertheless, she warned people to be careful around him, there was no telling what could happen.

"Itachi. Where is Umeki?" She questioned the rogue-nin. A few moments past and the man was silent before answering.

"I sent her away." The man answered and Anju groaned. For a second she considered arguing with this man but really she couldn't find the energy to even try. Apparently, Uchiha's had a habit of never backing down until they had the last word, even if they were in the wrong. When she got the chance, she would have to find Umeki or find another carer. She took a deep breath to calm herself, before placing her hands on her hips and staring at the man in the chair like he was a naughty five year old; even if he couldn't see it.

"I don't care if you're not use to having people look after you but you're going to have to live with it until you're better!" She ordered but by the blank expression on his face she doubted if the information actually sunk in. "Now if you don't mind I have a compound and a hospital to run." Anju snapped and turning on the heels of her shoes began to march out of the room.

"Ah so you are the Uchiha who popped out of nowhere." Itachi muttered to himself with a line of suspicion in his voice making Anju's hand freeze as she went to turn the door handle. She couldn't stop the burning sense of fury in her stomach as she turned to face.

"I am. And don't give me some crap about how ashamed I should be for only being half because the Uchiha part is the one I'm ashamed of! The blood and poison you left on this earth will be fully healed." Out of anger (plus her wild country side coming out) she spat on the floor in disgust. "I hope you rot in hell for what you did and your brother as well, though I can't really blame him for his faults, you turned him into what he is and to think I still have some obligation to wear this stupid necklace you gave me." Her tongue hissed at him. After she had let it all out she could only stand there in shock. Where the hell did that come from? Anju wondered to herself, trying to figure out where the outburst had come from.

"Did you say I gave you a necklace?" The blind man asked and she suddenly had the urge to bang her head against the wall. After all that all he can think about is the stupid necklace? She cursed inside her head as she tried to not to raise her voice again. "Did you say I gave you a necklace!" He repeated with a demanding tone. The sound dragged her from her thoughts and she finally looked at him again. Why is he asking this? Anju thought for a few moments before smacking herself. Of course! He doesn't know who I am! Anju thought. For some reason she had got it in her head that he knew who she was.

"Yes, This one." She answered, unlocking the clasp from the back of her neck and placed it in his hand. With the item gone from her neck she felt suddenly bare and held her breath as she watched as Itachi rubbed his fingers among the piece of jewellery. Suddenly, he stood up and with his one free hand and began searching the room. What the- Anju wondered but kept her mouth shut as she tried to settle him back done but he refused.

"No!" He grunted through his efforts and tried to proceed on with his journey. "I have to show you something you need to understand." Never, had she been in a situation like this. She didn't understand what was going on, nor was there anyone else to ask for help. In the end she had no choice but to help him on his quest. With her support, the man was able to move properly. Carefully, she watched his fingers brushed gently against the wall, feeling them gently like he was trying to feel something that wasn't there. As the got closer towards the dining room, he suddenly stopped. His hand moved area a small area of the wall until she suddenly saw his fingers glow blue from charka. All of a sudden she saw a symbol appear on the wall and then there was… a door. As if this day couldn't get any weirder! Was the only thing her mind could come up with. If she had any common sense she would have made them stop and got help with whatever this was. But instead she followed him inside; alone. Despite being the one with eyes, Anju couldn't see a thing but Itachi moved through it without any problems.

Activating her sharingan, she could see clear as day but it didn't really help much as it was just looking down one long tunnel. Itachi led her deeper into place until they reached a large chamber. My Kami! Looking around the whole place Anju could not believe her eyes. It was massive, the walls were covered with books, candle stands stood in the corners and a huge slab table lay in the centre. What the fuck! The situation she had just landed herself was beyond believable. It would also be a corny twist if this was a book? Anju thought. Meanwhile, Itachi was already on the other side of the room.

"What are you doing?" She asked suspiciously, as she carefully made his way over to him. It was clear that he heard him because her eyes caught the movement of his muscles tense slightly but he did not turn his face to her and kept looking down. Slowly, she moved closer to him, keeping her distance as she did not trust this man who had led her to this strange place. It wasn't until she was only a few steps away from in that she realised what he was looking at through his darken eyes. Violet orbs widen in horror at the sight before her. Stumbling backwards, she fell on the floor, slamming so hard into the ground that she dislocated her shoulder. But the overwhelming pain did not stop her from pushing herself off the floor and run from the chambers screaming. For what had laid at the bottom of the pit were the skeletons of children and since her sharing had been activate, they would be stuck in her mind; forever.


	22. THE DIARY

**The Diary**

Anju barely made it through the door as she raced towards the toilet and vomited her breakfast and lunch back out. As she yacked her food continents back up, she could feel Naruto beside her, rubbing, patting her back and whispering comforting words into her ear that she could barely understand. It was Jiriaya who had found her screaming her head off when she ran into the forest. When he found the young woman trying to tear her own eyes out he teleported straight to the hospital where five other doctors had to strap her down to the bed while Tsunade administered a dose of sleeping draft. When she was finally sane enough to tell them what happened, Tsunade sent a team to find out what was going on. Itachi had been sitting by the opening when they arrived. A full investigation was now open. But the images still remained in her head. She couldn't get them out of her head and every time she woke up she had to run to the bathroom, in all fairness the hospital should stop giving her food. Once her stomach was empty, she sat back into Naruto's chest and cried. There was nothing her boyfriend could do but just hold her.

A week later, Anju found herself staring out of the hospital window, admiring the normal lives of the civilians in the streets of the village. One of the groups caught her attention was a small family. A father, mother and two children, all with ice-creams were enjoying a sunny day out. Why can't my life be like theirs? The Uchiha thought to herself and pulled her knees closer to her chest and hugged them tightly. The only thing that turned her attention away from the scene was the presence of Naruto sitting next to her and handed her a cup of tea.

"Don't worry it's not the hospital stuff." He joked and gratefully took the cup from his hands. It was only then that she had gotten a good look of him. He had terrible bags under his eyes and his usual golden skin complexion was a little pale. The man had been staying at the hospital for the whole time ever since she had been admitted under twenty-four hour watch. Gently, she place one of her hands on his cheek and made him look at him.

"You should go home… you look tired." She suggested but inside she was hoping that her lover would take her advice and get some rest. Instead he placed his hand over hers and stroked it gently before turning in its direction and kissed it. An electric bolt went up her arm and she couldn't help but shiver. They hadn't done anything intermit for over a week apart from cuddling. Looking at each other they seemed to be able to read that they both longed from each other. Naruto was the confident one who made the first move and learnt in to kiss her. Wrapping their arms around each other they enjoyed the feeling of closeness they hadn't shared for a long time.

"Isn't that sweet?" A mocking voice commented from the shadows and they looked to see the pervy sage hanging around of the roof next to her window ceil. Before the couple could muster up enough rage to take the man down the sage was quick to defend himself. "I wasn't spying! I just came here to talk to my student… privately." He pointed out, his loud, jokey manner suddenly gone and replaced by a serious air of authority about him. Naruto looked back at Anju and she could read from the wide blue orbs that he was thinking of her well-being.

"Go, it's only when I'm dreaming you should worry." She tried to lighten the situation and with a weak smile, Naruto disappeared with his on-off sensei.

Well… it could be worse! Anju thought as she looked at herself in the mirror with her formal attire on. She had to hire a seamstress to take in some of her clothes because of the amount of weight she had lost over the last few days at the hospital. Tadashi learnt against the wall with Sakura next to him, out of the corner of her eye she could see the bad mood written all over her brothers face and his girlfriend was doing her best to try and calm him down. Men! Anju swore to herself, always think that the women in their lives need protecting like if a gust of wind blew them over they would shatter into a million pieces before they even hit the ground. Did they even get the idea that most of the woman (like Sakura, Tsunade and other female ninjas) could kick their ass it they really wanted to?

"You can keep looking at me like that all you want but it's not going to change anything." She informed him without turning to face him. Though, she could still see his eyes narrow down more from his reflection. Sighing, she adjusted the strap of her robe tighter before turning to face him. "I've got to get back to work; we're not in a time where we can just take it easy." Anju tried to explain herself to him but he still looked pissed.

"Cut the crap sis, you're still having nightmares about it and it's affecting your health badly." Tadashi swore and all his sister could do was roll her eyes.

"What's the situation with Itachi?" Anju questioned trying to change the subject from her well-being to the man behind it all. From the dark silver glint she saw in his eyes, she could tell this was not over.

"I ordered him to stay in another household in the compound, the investigators managed to retrieve all the skeletons of the children but little information was found on why they were their because… they kind of got… locked out." Sakura informed her as her brother seemed to busy chewing on his cheek to stop his anger getting out.

"Locket out! How?" Anju asked, that was the last thing she was expecting to here.

"While they were removing the remains they were questioning Itachi, they allowed the medics to get out first before taking Itachi out but as soon as he was out the whole tunnel ceiled up and no one's been able to get back in." The pink haired medic informed her and the half breed Uchiha could only stand there in silence as the sound went through one ear and out the other. This is not good! Anju thought, partly glad that the horrifying tomb had been sealed away but her mind was still haunted by the memories of what she had seen at the bottom of that pit. If she was ever going to get any peace of mind from this she had to find out what happened down there and to do that she had to get back in and look at those books.

It took her a few hours to build up the confidence to approach the house Itachi had been stored in in her absence. At first she had tried to busy herself with work, catching up with meetings and changes that her brother had made while she was away. She wished she could talk to Naruto because she had not seen him since his 'talk' with the old perv the other day and had no way of contacting him. Taking a deep breath, she marched straight into the house, not bothering to be polite and knock. She found the man sitting in the living room, staring at the empty, un-lit fire place.

"I think it's time you and I had a little chat." Anju spoke firmly, all kindness and naivety gone from her voice. This wasn't the time for any sympathy or politics. Alerted by her presence, the made turned to stare at her. How he was able to make direct eye contact with her was one thing she would never know? Nothing was said between them for a while. "Why did you show me that horrific site? Why did you take me down there?" The clan leader demanded to know. So far no one had been successful in getting any more information out of this man but maybe he would talk to her and if he didn't then she would make him; one way or the other.

"You needed to know, all leaders of the Uchiha clan have known." Was all he said at that moment and Anju could feel the anger build up through her body. What the hell is he talking about? She had been through all the records and nothing like this had popped up… then again, who would document this kind of thing down. Taking the seat opposite him, she leant forward, her hands clasped together and rested her forehead against it.

"Are you going to make any sense?" She asked. Carefully, she watched the man reached under the table and bring a small book into view. The cover was made of greenish leather that looked shabby around the edges, faded good lettering and yellowish tinted pages. Was this another one of tricks? He handed it to her, pushing the book firmly in her hands.

"If you want to discover who you really are and what happened to those babies in the pit, you'll need to read that." Itachi Uchiha instructed her and he refused to say anymore.

Later that night, as she lay in her own bed for the first time in a week, stroking the edges of the book she had been given. For some reason, she couldn't help but feel suspicious by what she was given but this was the only clue that the man had given anyone to finding out the truth. Finally, after a long debate with herself, she took one of the corners gently between two of her fingers and turned it open to the first page.

_Diary of Eri Uchiha_

_DON'T TOUCH_

_Dear Diary, _

_Today is my first day at the academy. I'm so excited, now I can really show father what I'm made of. He gave me a lecture the other day on how being one of the first ninja's to be trained at the ninja academy is important to show the rest of the village how important the Uchiha's were. Being the daughter of Madara Uchiha is a lot of pressure but I'm ready to take it on. I'm going to be the leader of this clan someday if mum doesn't have any other boys. Though by the way they've been acting around each other lately I doubt that will happen. I've got to prove to everyone in the village that the Uchiha family is strong, especially since the first Hokage was elected, daddy was not very happy with that. I have to go now. First day of school and I don't want to be late_

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was the worse. I found out I was in the same class as the First Hokage's son, Hikaru. He doesn't look like the Hokage that much, he has much paler skin than usual, bright red hair and dark violet eyes. As if I didn't have enough pressure on my shoulders already. If that wasn't bad enough I totally embarrassed myself in target practice today. As I ran up to do a high throw jump, I tripped and fell flat on my face. Everyone laughed at me and I got the lowest mark, dad found out about it and punished me severely. My thighs still hurt from the hard smacks he gave. Uncle Izuna told me I need to practiced more and that's actually what I'm going do. I'm not terrible and I was just nervous for the first day. From now on I'm going to work ten times harder and beat Hikaru. I'm going to beat him in all the classes and be the best ninja there ever was._

_3 Entries Later…_

_Dear Diary, _

_Sensei asked me to wait after school today so he could talk to my father about my 'progress' it did not go down very well and dad gave me a horrible beating when I got home. I'm trying honestly I am but it's just so hard. I can't focus in the class room because everything is just so boring or really confusing and it's not like I can ask for help, think of how humiliating that would be. What am I going to go? I'm always out practicing endlessly unless I need to sleep or eat but I still can't do it. I'm not going to give up, I have to show dad what I'm made of, I can't let my clan down or myself._

"Anju, can we talk." Naruto's voice rang through her head just as she was turning the page. Anju had been so caught up in what she was reading that she almost fell off the bed from pure fright, throwing the book in the air in the process. Recovering quickly, she was able to catch the precious object again before it shattered into a million pieces.

"Naruto! You scared me almost to death!" She swore at him but the burning sensation that had been just their suddenly disappeared when she saw the grim look. "Oh." Was all she could say as she placed the book on the side of the bedside table; now completely forgotten. Never had she seen him look so serious before. Something was seriously up. Climbing down from the open window, the blonde ninja made his way over to her and next to her on the bed. He didn't even try to make eye contact with her and just stared at the floor.

"Jirayia was able to find another jinchuriki, the eight tails, and he's able to control his beast and he's allowed me to go and train with him." He informed her without his usual hyper-activeness, which made Anju even more worried.

"That's great Naruto but why aren't you happy." She questioned not sure if he was trying to secretly point out something to her.

"I'm going to be gone for a long time… a really long time, no one knows how long and I have no idea where I'm going so I have no way of contacting you." Both of the lovers looked at each other in total silence for a long time. Finally unable to take it anymore, Naruto broke the silence. "Usually I just go and think about getting stronger to protect the ones I love but this time it isn't enough, I can't bare the thought of leaving you behind. I… I'm in love with you." The mixture of emotions in his voice made Anju's heart swelled up.

"I love you too." She whispered and without thinking, she pulled on his shirt with all her might towards him until their lips crush against one another. Soon they found themselves naked and making love under the covers.


	23. LAST DAY TOGETHER

**Last Day Together**

Deep down it was killing Anju that Naruto would be leaving her for Kami knows how long without any form of communication with him. She couldn't even bare the thought of losing contact with his warm, firm skin as they lay together in bed. The calm soothing breath of her lover on her neck made the thought of it seem even worse to think she would not be feeling this sweet sensation for such a long time. Pushing herself further back, she tried to bring him closer to her and in response could feel his arms lock tight around her. It was strange how they seemed to mould together, like the pieces of a puzzle fitting together.

"Morning." He whispered in a husky voice into her ear and kissed the base of her neck, the touch sent goose bumps down her back. Looking at the alarm clock on her bed side table, she could see it was five o'clock, the sun wasn't even out yet. Behind her, Naruto stirred and sitting up a little, learnt forward so he could see the clock himself. With a heavy thud he put it back down and snuggled himself into her back again.

"What time do you leave?" Anju was sad to ask and she could feel him stiffen behind her.

"At seven." He muttered and again the room was filled with silence. The arm around her waist tighten suddenly, like he suddenly feared she would be ripped from his arms. In this situation it wasn't far from the truth. Inside, a part of her wanted to scream at the top of her voice and beg him to stay with her so they could be like this all the time. But the other part of her knew how important it was for him to control the nine tailed beast and would never forgive herself if she made him miss this opportunity. Turning around so she was facing him, she locked her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his; wanting to feel the connection they shared again last night. Naruto was happy to oblige with that.

Before this, Anju had always hated the corny relationships when the couple was all over each other in public and they were always saying 'I love you' over again and again. Now she had converted into one of them. At the front gates of the village, a small group was there to wish their friend off. As she watched every member in the group wish Naruto good luck, Anju stood out of the way, otherwise no one would be able to say goodbye to him. A small smile was placed on her lips as she watched how many people loved the man that she loved. The passion they shared this morning and last night would have to be enough for her and she could honestly say she had given the best goodbye that he would remember. Once everyone had gone to wish him goodbye, she thought he would just leave with Jirayia and sooner or later he would come back. But instead of walking to his sensei he made his way over to her, cupping her face in his hands he kissed her gently on the mouth. When he finally let go, both stared at each other in the eyes, both saw the emotions they wanted to share with each other but could not. With that they said their goods byes. Anju did not look away until his dark figure disappeared in the distance.

_Dear Diary, _

_The days just keep getting worse. My body aches all over from extensive training and the consistent beating from my dad. Nothing is improving in school and yet Hikaru just seems to accelerate in everything. Some of the other children make fun of me. I'm such a screw up. Dad just looks at me like I'm a stinky piece of rubbish that just suddenly appeared in his vision and my mum won't even acknowledge my existence. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. _

Knock, knock, knock! The noise interrupted me from my reading and I tucked the diary into the top draw of my desk. Tadashi opened the door and with a smile on his face, which read 'I just kicked ass in healing my patient's, had a great fuck with my girlfriend and I managed to outsmart Jin' the expression looked like he was an angel merrily floating around heaven. At least someone's happy! Anju thought to herself, as her brother placed a document in front of her to sign. As soon as he was gone, the clan leader pulled out the diary out of the draw again and laid it in front of her. She hated forcing herself to read it, this kid had such a depressing life and it was all thanks to Madara. The name was like a curse everywhere she heard it; had this man not cost enough pain already! But if she wanted to find out the truth she needed to keep reading (not to mention it was the only thing that made her stop thinking of Naruto) so ignoring the feeling of depression that was rising up in her chest, she open the leather cover and continued.

_Dear Diary, _

_Results day had been terrible, I was last in the class and Hikaru was first, followed by his best friend, Airi the girl from the civilian family with these stupid blonde pigtails and big honey coloured eyes. I've never felt so embarrassed in my life. There was this big celebration where all the families came to congratulate their children apart from my dad. I spent most of my time stuffing food into my bag and pockets so I had something to eat. It doesn't matter, I've got the whole summer holidays to get my skills into tip top shape and then everyone will be sorry about judging me, I'll show them, just wait and see. Dad disowned me today after he found out. He told me so while I was training in my special place. I hadn't even noticed he was standing behind me until he began talking to me. Later on he dragged me back to the house and placed a suitcase in my hand and never come back. He never thought I would be such a disgrace. I guess I should be happy he was thoughtful enough to give me some stuff to take with me. Luckily I had my diary hidden in my back pouch, it's the only little comfort I have right now. It's okay though, I'm going to prove him wrong. I need to think of this as a training exercise. All ninja's had to learn how to survive on their own at some point. Besides, I was lucky enough to find a big box to sleep in and I had a pillow with me. Though I have nothing to protect me from the cold, writing helps though. I know I can do this, I just have to improve at school and get to the top of the class and then dad will take me back. Though it will have to be next semester._

Another knock at the door disturbed her reading and once again she was forced to hide the diary again. A few men I had employed came in and announced they had finished building the special section I had constructed secretly at the back were the fields were. Perfect! Anju smiled gleefully as the builders showed her what they had done on a paper layout. It was perfect and she couldn't wait to show it off to her brother.

"Anju, this is stupid!" Tadashi whined like a small child. Ignoring him like any good sister would do, she yanked the knot of his blindfold tighter and pushed him onwards, not giving him any more chance to argue. Around the streets they went, past buildings, staff and animals, making Tadashi more confused as he was unable to keep track of where they were heading. Finally, the houses and people began to dwindle away until they were near the fields, were a large building that had been reformed recently.

"Open!" She squeezed and whipped the blind fold away. She watched in anticipation as she watched her brother blink in surprise at the building that lay in front of them.

"I don't get what I am supposed to be looking at." Was all the man could say and all Anju could do was punch him in the shoulder; hard.

"Ow!" The doctor moaned, rubbing the bruise that was starting to form on his arm but he made no move on healing it straight away. Maybe the inside will help to reveal what I'm trying to show him? Anju thought and grabbing his arm pulled him inside. The room was large with ten stables, five on each side with plenty of room for the horses to live in and large piles of haystacks all around the room. "Why did you build horse stables?" He asked again and Anju had to mentally slap her head. And all this time I thought he was smart! The Uchiha mistress thought disappointedly.

"I built it for you so you could look after your animals here." She blurted out after a while of waiting for him to get it. The looked of utter confusion turned into complete shock when he realised what she meant. "Remember you always said if a wave of good came your way you would build something like this, you always hated selling off your horses." She tried to explain as she watched her brother taken in everything around her.

"You didn't have to do this." Tadashi pointed out but Anju refused to accept it.

"You've done so much for me, the least I could do was give you this." Anju told him and her brother soon embraced her into a brotherly hug.

"Thanks sis." He smiled at her and ever since Naruto left she smiled back truly at him. "Now all I have to do is put some horses in this place." He laughed lightly and at that moment, Anju whipped out a flyer of a horse trade coming up soon. Now she had one surprise left for him and walked him outside so he could see the land he could use.

Sitting in her bed late that night, Anju placed the diary she had just been reading to the side. Her heart went out for Eri Uchiha, the girl had suffered so much pain and Anju was finding it difficult to read on. What is the point in reading this? The woman cursed and sunk lower into her bed in depression. Itachi had told her that this book was meant to give her information about the abandon children and herself yet all it revealed was the life of an old Uchiha. There was still plenty to read but she was finding it hard to keep reading it. Tonight, she decided to go to bed early, the last few days had taken a lot out of her and she thought she deserved to get some rest. Laying her head down on the pillows, she could feel her eye lids grow heavier and heavier. Just as she felt herself falling into a deep sleep, a burning sensation re-woke her and she sat back up again, gripping her hand. Staring down she noticed the symbol that Tadashi had placed on her arm to alert her if anything had crossed the barriers. Jumping from her bed she run to the mirror and put the jutsu into action. Watching the image to form she made her mind calm. But what she saw was something she hadn't been expecting. Through the forest, a whole army was heading was heading their way. Kami! Anju swore as her eyes looked straight into the Sharingan eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. Moving with lightning speed she sounded of the alarm and prepared herself for battle.


	24. SASUKE VS THE UCHIHA UNIT

**Sasuke vs The Uchiha Unit**

Anju had seen the size of the army through her special security cameras and comparing it with the size of her guards she had it was going to be a nasty fight. They had sent out a massager to call for reinforcements but that would take a while. Somehow they just needed to hold them back until they got here. To her left, she could hear the cracking of knuckles as Sakura got ready to punch some heads off and to her right she heard the snarling of Shadow, her usual friendless gone and replaced with a killing aggression. Hansuke was handing out some on his specially made weapons to some of the other people. Her old teammate uses had not stopped their, he had built a few surprises for the oncoming army. If there was one thing she had learnt from her old clan was your camp was your home, you secured it with the best security system.

Activating her sharingan, her eyes show the army coming through the darkness with tremendous speed. Once the enemy was in range, she gave the signal for the men to release the catapults. Giant flaming rocks went hurtling through the night sky. The clones that were to slow to move were crushed to death under the wait. The white clones thought that if they missed the rocks they were safe. It was moments like this that Anju love Hansuke and his crazy inventions. After a few seconds of laying dominate the rocks exploded taking another five with it. Whilst that was happening, Anju was watching the advancing army coming closer. Giving the second signal, arrows were realised into the air, landing randomly in the trees. But their aim wasn't the clones. Along a row of trees the leaves and barks had been laid with an invisible paste that was completely flammable, setting the area alight, like and barrier made of fire was blocking the enemy's one coming advance. The only way they could get to the Uchiha walls now was to fly over it or go around it; that was the belief anyway. There was a loud boom and out of grey smoke, Sasuke came flying out on a giant hawk. No one had been expecting that! The clones still came, either bothering to go around or even running right through it.

"Get the tar!" Anju shouted, grabbing a barrel of her own with the help of Jin and tossed the continents over the side of the wall, leaving the wall and the floor cover with the black stuff. This stop the intruder's sneaking up under their noses because they would just get stuck in it. Though Anju's main concern was Sasuke himself. His own eyes were blazing with the sharingan and he was staring right at her, she could not read what he was thinking behind his emotionless mask. Drawing her katana out of its sheath, she placed herself into a defensive position, the stance was soon followed by all the other shinobi stationed among the walls. With the catapults still going off along the walls, it was making it difficult for the flying hawk to move around. The eye connection between Sasuke and Anju was broken when he moved far to the left, heading straight into one of the war machines. That was the thing about catapults; they were great when it came to long range and medium range but when it came to short range there was no way it could defend itself. Even from the distance, Anju could still see the rogue summon up his lightning bird technique and slammed it right into the heart of the mechanism, bringing the whole machine down. She left Jin in control of the north border as she moved with lightning speed with a few guards plus Sakura following her as she went to face Sasuke one on one.

"You ready for this!" Anju shouted over to Sakura, who looked more determined than ever, though she worried that the pink headed medic might soon turn soft on her old crush and planned on keeping a close eye on her as they thought. Battling their way through two or three other white clones on their way, they finally met up with him in the battle field. The rogue Uchiha had already slaughtered seven men and was about to kill an eighth man when Anju slashed his own sword away from cutting the man's throat. Apart from Sakura, most of the small group that came with her got distracted by the white clones that were trying to jump over the tar and breech the walls. Jumping back to avoid another sweep of her blade, Sasuke gained some distance between the two female ninja's. For a few moments it seemed as if time had slowed down, all three of them studying each opponent they were facing, as they tried to calculate the other persons weaknesses.

"Sakura… it's been a long time." Sasuke remarked without any hint of emotion for his old team mate. It shook Anju to the bone to know someone like that could live in an existence like a zombie. The sound of leather stretching came from the tighten fists of the kunochi standing next to her, trying to keep her feelings under control. Unlike Naruto, the only female member of team seven had learned that her old team mate was an aggressive beast; someone needed to put him down. His attention quickly turned back to the person who had taken over all of the responsibilities of his clan. After eyeing her up and down, he finally showed some emotion; disgust. "Seeing you in the mists of battle is quite disappointing, you don't look like a threat you should be." He hissed like a poisonous snake, preparing himself to fight. For some reason, Anju didn't like the way he spoke to her; something wasn't right.

"Then you have already lost this battle, judging me on appearance alone." She smirked, bringing her sword higher across her face.

As if reading each other's mind both women attacked at the same time, their weapons out and aimed for his chest. Knocking Sakura to the side, Sasuke brought his katana up and blocked Anju sword. Each forcing their weight among their swords but were making saw they didn't give too much so the other could not use their off balance against them. In the end it was Sasuke that had to retreat first. Not because Anju was getting the upper advantage on him but because Sakura had recovered and was diving back into battle with one of her fists infused with a lot of charka. She aimed for his head but missed as he dived back. Jumping over Anju, Sakura aimed a high kick at Sasuke's head but again she missed and the rogue nin swung his katana, tearing the flesh apart from her knee. Crying out in pain, the pink medic fell to the floor and just barely managed to roll out the way as he launched another attack. Doing a few clumsy back flips, her friend managed to gain some room between them. Blood pour from the open wound and if not looked at soon then it was possible that she might pass out from blood loss. But Sakura wasn't a high classed medic for nothing and focusing her charka to her wound began mending the wound without having to look away from her old team mate. Just then Sasuke summoned another chidori and aimed the force of lightning at her chest. Jumping back into battle, Anju placed herself between her best friend and the energy, forcing as much charka into the blade as she could to deflect some of the power of his attack as they clashed. But she had estimated the power wrong and an explosion burst between the two opposing forces, breaking her sword in the process and sent her flying backwards. Her back had slammed against the wall, just barely avoiding a collision with Sakura as she flew backwards.

"Stop it Sasuke!" A voice shouted out from nowhere and everyone stopped what they were doing. The rogue ninja even went as far as showing a surprised look on her face as he turned to see Itachi standing on the building side. If this was under different circumstances then Anju would have laughed at the sight of his mouth opening ever so slightly before shutting it again. Unlike the rest of the ninja population he had not been informed that his brother was alive.

"Itachi." The word was barely a whisper but it was clear of the hundred reasons he was thinking.

"Sasuke stop this madness, I sacrificed everything so peace could stay in Konohagakure and to help you restore our family name. Now you're helping a mad man kill millions." Itachi spat bitterly at his younger brother. It was then that he saw the increasing fury that grew inside his brother. With a battle cry fuelled with so much hatred he activated his chidori for the third time and launched at his brother, no hint of mercy shown in his features. Anju didn't think. Her body reacted to the sight once again throwing herself in the middle. Only this time she had no weapon to bounce the attack off. She stood her ground as she looked into the dark eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. In the quarter of a second that stood between the inch gap beat her heart and his chidori, Anju saw her whole life flashed against her eyes as she thought over all the people she would miss. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

The slamming of the lightning bird against her chest did not happen but she could still feel the buzzing of energy somewhere in front of her. Opening her eyes once again, she was shocked to see Kakashi gripping on to Sasuke's wrist and forcing his hand in another direction, causing the attack to hit the wall instead. Boom! The collision with the rumble caused molecules of dust and dirt to feel the air. The last thing, Anju saw of Sasuke was the rogue ninja disappearing back into the forest with his army following him.

For the next two days, Anju spent most of her time in the office more than usual, avoiding to see anyone other than important appointments. She did not know why she attacked like this but after the fight with Sasuke Uchiha had left her a little shaken and had the most terrible feeling in her stomach that she had missed something important. Since the battle she had been replaying the whole thing through her mind over and over again in her head but with no success. Soon the very image of the Uchiha in her head began to make her feel too sick to think probably and had really lost the strength to bother meeting anyone in case they brought him up. In fact she could not even bare to read the diary because it reminded her of the rogue too much. Strangely enough it was Kakashi Hatake, who barged into the office one Friday afternoon to confront her absence.

"What point of do not disturb do you not understand Hatake?" Anju questioned in a manner that was similar to Tsunade bad moods. Though, she did not have the Hokages legacy of beating people up for her temper to scare the Copy- Nin off so easily.

"You've been stuck inside for days Anju, I think it's time you and I had a little talk." It wasn't an order that could easily be denied. It was a matter of fact, as the ninja pulled the girl from her seat and puffed them straight over to the war memorial. Anju thought it was a funny place to hold a private conversation. "Tell me what's wrong." Kakashi demanded to know. Anju rolled her eyes and thought if she was going to tell anyone then it would be this guy because if she didn't then she was going to have to suffer the torturing integrations from Ino's prying ways.

"The whole battle with Sasuke has me freaked." Anju admitted to the older man. "I can't help but think the whole way that Sasuke talked to me was a little off, like he had met me before." The whole thing sounded stupid but Kakashi saw no thought of it on his face.

"Sasuke has always had a strange way with meeting people, I usually put it down to his ignorant matter." The shinobi informed her and though she still thought that wasn't the case she did feel a little better getting it all off her chest. Taking advantage of the situation, Anju decided it was time she got some questions off her chest as well.

"If I may be so blunt Kakashi I must ask why bother, I know you care deeply about the people you care for but confronting their inner problems isn't really your style." Anju called into question the man's motives. A long time went by without a word passed between them, until he moved aside and pointed towards a name. Moving closer, Anju examined what he was looking up and was a little bit confused when he pointed to the name Obito Uchiha.

"He was my old team mate." The shinobi informed her and she nodded to his acknowledgement though she still didn't understand what was going on. "Believe or not, for an Uchiha he was defiantly not like them, in all honesty he was more like Naruto then anyone else." At the random mention of her lover, she felt a little more liking to this boy.

"I've never heard anyone mention Obito before." Anju added and Kakashi just shrugged with his eyes still focused on her team mate's name.

"He died very young." The man stated bluntly. "You also remind me of him as well."

"How?" Anju inquired, since she couldn't see any similarities between herself and Naruto that could reflected into this long lost Uchiha.

"To be honest I'm not sure myself." The man replied with an eye crinkle with usually meant that he was smiling under that annoying mask of his. "But theirs defiantly something there, maybe it's…" The silver haired man never got to finish his sentence when they both felt another presence nearby. Anju tensed, knowing that she knew that charka signature from somewhere but couldn't place where. In the end it turned out to be one of the village guards.

"Milady, your brother requests your presence back at the compound." He informed her and with a quick nod he disappeared once again.

"Thank you for getting me out of the office Kakashi and thanks for listening" She smiled and the Copy-nin just shrugged. Then, she was gone. Disappearing in a puff of grey smoke.

Reappearing back in her office room again, the usual sense of quietness was gone and was replaced by the angry shouts of protest. What the hell? Anju wondered to herself as she picked up her katana and strapped it to her back. As she made it downstairs, she thought at first the riot may be caused by one of the ambassadors arriving early and not finally the rooms set up for him comforting. But it wasn't until she was just about to open the door that she recognised some foreign words from her language that she recognised from her own people but none of them belong to the voices of her three team mates. I must be dreaming, she wondered to herself as she finally got the courage to step outside and stare right into the cold steel eyes of her father.


	25. THE KAZEKAGE'S ARRIVAL

**THE KAZEKAGE'S ARRIVAL**

Anju had always known there was someone out in the universe that hated her but the stunt with her old clan was taking this craziness to a new level. If she had her own way she would have just kicked them out but her conscience told her it wasn't the right thing to do. Plus, she noticed that some of the man, woman and children looked completely sick and exhausted, more so then usual for her clan. She gave her orders to the group, expecting resistance at first but she didn't even get a grudging look of defiance. Well, that worked out well, Anju thought to herself as she watched the large group disperse to follow her orders. The only one that stayed behind was her father. She didn't have time for this; literally. Today two of the kages from hidden leaf villages were arriving today and she needed to finish preparations. At that moment she was interrupted by the sound of the bell, warning her of the leader's arrival. They're half a day early! Alarms bells went off in her head. Oh someone defiantly hated her.

"We'll talk later, I have duties to attend to." She informed her father and signalled to her brother. This was the last thing she wanted to add to her brothers list of problems but he seemed to understand and took their father aside, guiding him to where she had sent her clan to rest. Jumping back inside, she quickly called a messenger over and gave him a list of things to be delivered and sent around to finish off the kages apartments. Before she went to meet them she jumped into some formal kimono made of black silk and decorated with purple dragons. Sorting her appearance out in the mirror before jumping out the window and ran over to meet them.

When she saw the party waiting at the gate she slowed down to a walk and approached like a good diplomat should. Seeing the head bands around the foreheads of the surrounding shinobi she could see it was the sand ninja who had arrived early. The leader of the whole reception was a man about her age, with red hair, piercing blue eyes and a tattoo on his head that said love.

"Welcome to my home Lord Kazekage." Anju bowed respectfully to him. The man she addressed and his company did the same.

"We apologise for our early arrival but we've only just realised that we were informed of the wrong time." The Kazekage sympathised while throwing a dirty glare over his shoulder to a slightly older shinobi who was covered in a black suit, had purple paint marks all over his face and a puppet hanging on his back. The man was trying to look anywhere that wasn't his leaders face, Anju could understand, the look the man gave was quiet scary.

"It's alright." Anju tried to reassure him, though secretly she was a little annoyed with all the bad timing. "The rooms for your team are ready but I'm afraid yours still needs a few adjustments to it." The kage nodded in understanding and ordered his party to go and rest. Most of them left, expected the man he was scowling at earlier and a woman whose blonde hair had been placed into pigtails.

"Kakashi my man! It's good to see you." The puppeteer shouted out suddenly, while the other two just slapped the faces with embarrassment. Thinking back to later conversations, the woman soon remembered that these three were all siblings. In all the politeness, she had not notice Kakashi's approach to the group. Turning around, she saw him giving the group one of his signature eye crinkles.

"Yo!" He greeted everyone else and Anju could not help but roll her eyes. Here she was trying to act all polite and civil and here these two were acting like idiots. One day she hoped the silver haired man would become a Hokage for a short while just so he could suffer all the political and diplomatic meetings. But overall, she was quite glad the man was here as the lazy posture he held somehow eased the tensions between them a little bit. The village might have expected her but she was going to have to work hard to overcome the shinobi nations; after all it was the Uchiha's fault that nearly the whole shinobi nation was at war. "Anyway, I should be off I'm already two hours late to see Tsunade." The silver haired man smiled to the new quests before turning his attention to Anju. "I'll see you at training tomorrow." Suddenly, her vision was blocked by grey smoke as the jonin teleported himself out of the compound, leaving the woman to choke on the dust. Taking in the fact that the man was completely gone the tension among the group rose again; couldn't he of been an hour late instead.

To try and break the tension between the group, Anju decided to been the Kazekage to her house, hoping that a little rest and some food would replace the frown on the sand ninja's face. Sadly, it seemed to have no such effect. The sour look remained among the leader and his sister's face, while the other sibling stared out the window, no doubt trying to get a good look at some of the nurses hanging out the back of the hospital for a break. The girl wasn't sure what to do. She could handle meetings; it was all facts and debates, which she could handle. But actually trying to have a comfortable conversation with one of them was whole different matter. What actually do people talk about in these conversations? Another thing she realised was that she was under a lot of pressure and needed to look good for the Hidden Leaf Village. Judging by the look on Gaara's face, he was studying every move she made.

"Your home is very beautiful Lady Uchiha." Temari was the first one to break the silence. From what she had heard Temari was the diplomatic ambassador for Konohagakure in the land of wind so had a lot of political experience up her sleeve.

"Thank Temari but I cannot take credit for the decoration, it is Sakura and Ino's techniques you should be admiring." Anju replied, her mind scrambling to come up with something else to say; failing miserably. Why didn't I practice anything like this? She mentally slapped herself. She knew she had problems talking like this and yet she had not even considered the thought if practicing the whole stupid social skills. The knocking on the door broke the silence in the room. Hearing that sound had never made the nervous clan head feel happier then she could ever imagine. The door opened and Sakura stepped in.

"Sorry to interrupt but I need these documents filled out now." The pink medic explained and dumped the papers on the side of the arm chair that Anju was sitting in. Only a quick examination of the writing demands told the Uchiha realise that these documents could have waited at least another week. Which secretly meant that her friend knew that she was crashing and burning at the moment and had decided to come in and rescue her. "Gaara! It's good to see you." Sakura beamed and bow politely, while Anju began filling in in the forms.

"It's good to see you too Sakura how are you." The Kazekage smiled back and the sand siblings got into conversation. Watching the group act natural, the Uchiha couldn't help but feel a little jealous, why wasn't she able to act like that around them? One of the strange mysterious of the world. It didn't take long to flip through the paperwork and sign all of it, she soon grew a little bored watching the group chat and her thoughts drifted off towards the window. From her position she could see the whole street that led towards the village centre. She could also see most of her friends that worked on her land. Jin was at the front of her house enjoying the afternoon sun with Shadow laying beside her and playing with one of her toys. On the other side just a little further down, Hansuke was at the front of his shop, using what little time he had in his time off from his security detail to catch up on some of his weapons work, banishing the metal with his hammer into a straight strip. Finally, she spotted her brother outside the hospital, talking to some children. From their appearance and clothes she guessed he was talking to some of the younger members of her old clan. The locked expression on his face worried her, he was smiling and being nice but none of the joy was reaching his beautiful grey eyes.

A sudden tap on her arm brought her back to reality. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Anju looked up to stare into the worried green eyes of her best friend. It was only then she realised that she had totally blanked out of the moment and now had four sets of eyes looking at her; the other three were not so kind but there was also a little glimpse of concern deep down in their eyes. Slowly, she began to realise that her hand was gripping the chair of the arm so hard that her knuckles had turned an uneasy white colour.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I got lost in my own thoughts." Anju tried to smile, loosening her grip from the chair. But it was clear from the expressions on their faces that they didn't believe the smile on her face.

"Is it possible I could talk to the Lady Uchiha alone?" The Kazekage asked the group. The three gave everyone sceptical looks about this odd decision. Sakura grip on her friends shoulder tighten ever so slightly, whether it was because she was worried about the red head blunt ways or knowing that she would probably say or do something that would screw up her chances. Patting the pink girls shoulder for comfort, the Uchiha gave her a firm nod, knowing that it would be easier to lay down some ground rules on the relationship they would be sharing for the upcoming war. It seemed that her agreement to this strange request helped to make a decision for the other three as they left the room. Just before she heard the door close completely and loud slap could be heard and Kankuro letting out a cry of pain, which possibly came from him asking if any of the nurses were single. When the door did finally close, there was an odd feeling left in the room. Well this is going to be fun! Anju thought sarcastically to herself.

The two of them stood opposite each other, like two cowboys readying themselves for a dual. Anju did not like these feeling at all, especially with her fingers twitching to hold a kunai in her hand; why did she suddenly feel like she was in danger? Maybe it was the fact that she was opposing the Kazekage one of the most powerful shinobi in existence and she was… just some long lost kekkei genkai user. Sure she could fight and hold her ground but she had doubts to whether she could actually beat him. She mentally slapped herself in the head. Why was she thinking like this? He wasn't going to attack her and she wasn't going to attack him, it would be completely stupid and irrational to do something like that.

"I sense that something troubles Lady Uchiha care to talk about it." Gaara questioned, remaining settled in his seat comfortably. The woman tried to do the same thing but found it impossible.

"Only what troubles everyone else." Anju shrugged casually. It was half true, she was a little stressed from the war and preparations for the visitors staying in her compound. Not to mention that she missed her boyfriend. The thought made her heart leap. It wasn't until now she had really thought of him gone and the whole idea left a huge hole in her heart.

"Yes this war must be hard, especially for you, fighting against your own blood." The red haired mused. An image of Sasuke rose in her mind and she could not suppress the shiver that ran down her back. Her own blood yes but there was nothing human about him, whatever there had been was lost a long time ago. And Madara… well, she couldn't find a part of his life when he didn't seem to have the devil inside him. Thinking about it when was the last time she read the diary…

"It's hard but I have no sympathy for those who wish to murder just for the sake of power." The words were pat out like venom, all this thought about the people behind this war was beginning to unlock feelings that she had been suppressing for a long time now. Gaara seemed to sense that it was getting her and suggested that they went for a walk instead. She agreed, hoping that she could burn off some of the extra energy that was now burning through her veins like poison.

The walk had done a little good to help smooth the relation between her and the Kazekage. Even though the Uchiha's had left nothing but destruction, hatred and pain in their path, they had built their lively hood on a beautiful piece of beauty. The river they walked by helped to calm her soul and the anger she once felt only seconds ago had disappeared in a flash. It seemed to be having the same effect on Gaara as well as she spotted a small smile on his face as well. Finally a messenger had arrived to report that the kage's room was ready. Plus, that the Raikage had arrived to Konoha but refused to come to the Uchiha compound, finding it insulting that he was being place with the enemy. It didn't matter as much, Tsunade had been suggesting that the Lightening kage would act like this and had made second arrangements just in case; there was a bet to see how long he would suffer in the 'apartments' the Hokage had set up for them. Not that Anju really cared; she was already finding it hard to act diplomatic in front of one of the leaders of the five nations. Right now she was back in her office, reading the diary once again.

_Dear Diary,_

_I've never been so ashamed with myself in my whole life. Only two weeks back at the academy and still no improvement. It doesn't help that I'm hungry and tired all the time, living on the streets is rough but that's not why I'm ashamed. The only food I've been eaten is the stuff out of the bins behind restaurants. It's the best place to get fresh food though it's still not enough. But tonight when I was walking behind one of the alleyways and chef came out and tossed a whole bowl of rice in to the bin. I just couldn't resist, I was so hungry and as soon as the man disappeared back into the kitchen I dive for it, my hands scooping up every gain I could get I forcing it into my mouth. I had been concreting so much at squashing my hunger that I had not notice people walking up behind me. Only when someone called out my name did I stop what I was doing. It was stupid of me to turn around. It gave away that it was actually me and I looked straight into the eyes of Hikaru and Airi staring back at me in disbelief. I ran. There was nothing else I could do, I think I heard them call out my name again but I was more focused on my running and getting back to my small box. I should go to bed now, we have a test and I need to get as much rest as possible. _

_Dear Diary, _

_Today was very unusual. The test that morning was awful, I didn't understand any of the questions, which was usual for me but lunchtime wasn't. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I'll find some money on the floor I could buy lunch. But today wasn't one of my lucky days so instead I just sat on the swing while everyone enjoyed their lunches. At least, that had been the plan. Two shadows descended upon me without warning. I looked up to see Hikaru and Airi standing there. A part of me had been expecting it and was prepared to take on the onslaught of insults. Instead they held out food. They said I could have it, that we kids had to look out for one another. We Uchiha's are known for our pride, but just looking at the food and the sound of my growling belly was enough to ignore it and eat. They said I could sit with them if I wanted and just talk. I found it strange but I did, I didn't want to be alone again and maybe they had some more food. They asked me a whole bunch of questions to my misfortune, the only question I gave an answer that I gave an answer to was I had nowhere to live. It turns out that the restaurant I was eating from belong to Airi's civilian family. They've given me a bed for the night at Airi place. She's asleep now but I needed to get this written down, see if I could make any sense of what happened to today, reading it now I still can't make sense of all of it. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and it will just be a dream._

The door creped open and Anju just had enough time to hide the diary before Tadashi entered the room. She had not seen him a lot today but could still she the same worried expression he had been trying to cover up in front of the children early was still written on his face.

"Anju, I need to talk to you about dad." Tadashi jumped straight to the point. The lady could not help but roll her eyes. Of course it had something to do with the old man, why else would her brother be acting so stress? The doctor had been perfectly fine until their whole clan had shown up.

"Is he asking for my execution or something along that pretext?" She asked, not really in the mood for this.

"Anju…" He began but the rest of what he was going to say come out silent. It seemed like he was having trouble trying to figure what he was trying to say. "Our father is dying."


	26. THE RIGHT OF CAST

**THE RIGHT OF CAST**

Tadashi informed her of the situation on the way towards the hospital. Madara had somehow tracked down their clan, surrounding their people with not only his clone army but had somehow got the chi clan on his side as well. He gave them a choice. Join him or die. Surin had turned against the clan, along with a few others who wanted to live but a majority of the clan stuck to the old clan way. Stand together and look death in the eye. Clearly, Madara had underestimated them because they Tsukiko clan may have been small but they had a few tricks up their sleeve to use against them. They fought. They escaped. They ran. The cruel Uchiha had sworn that they would fund them and tracked them done to the ends of the earth. In the end there was only one place they could go and that was to Konohagakure. Walking through the street, Anju felt everyone's eyes on her. All of them had mixed emotions in their eyes. Some had the same resentment they always had, others confusion and finally fear. But among all of these things she saw something spark at them that she thought she would never see; hope.

All her life, Anju had looked at this man and seen hard cold ice. Nothing seemed to touch this man, no battle, no famine, not even a stupid fight would break the man. It was like nothing could get to him, excepted when he looked at her and saw that everything he fought for had been in vein. But when she wasn't around he ran his people like a well oil machine. Just looking at him now, it changed everything she believed in life. She couldn't accept the fact that she had not notice his appearance early. His skin was hanging off his face and was a strange grey tinted colour, the chest moved up and down abnormally; these were usually signs that he didn't have much time left. Kneeling down beside him, she took her hand in his and squeezed it tight. She didn't know why. To be honest, she had no real reason to give him any sympathy after everything he did to her. But seeing him like this… she just couldn't help herself. Feeling her touch, her father slowly turned his head towards Anju and looked at her.

"A-Anju…" He breathed heavily and even winced a little in pain with the intake of break. The grip on her hand tighten and Anju was surprised by the amount of strength still left in a dying man. "Anju, I… I…" She shushed and gently brushed his grey hair back from his sweaty forehead. So that it wouldn't itch against his skin. They needed to try and make him as comfortable as possible. His lips quivered as he shrugged to speak.

"It's okay father, save your strength." She tried to ease him as she continued to stroke his forehead. All of a sudden, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist; hard. It was so unexpected that she didn't even realise that he was cutting off the flow of blood to her hand.

"I… pass… m-my… right…of…of…l-leader… to…you." His voice hissed and it seemed that all his strength had suddenly vanished as his boy went limp. She looked at him, shocked what he had just done. Never in a million years would she believe this to happen. Suddenly, she felt her father's hand go abnormally cold. Her whole body was suddenly gripped with horror. She checked for a pulse but was unable to find one. The leader of the Tusisko can had died and named her as successor. No one was going to be happy about this.

Tadashi tried to tell her that there was nothing they could have done. Their father had lived longer than most of people in their clan and his body had shut down by itself. Sitting in her room, she felt so lonely. Even though she found it strange that her father was no longer alive anymore she had accepted. People died; it was just a part of life. But something in his mind must not have been working right as he had just bestowed the power of clan leader on to her. Even though she already processed her rank from the Uchiha blood that ran through her brains she could never have imagined this happening. Oh man the clan was not going to like this. Then again the clan didn't know yet and maybe they would be softer if Tadashi was the one who became the leader, it would make much more sense and less paperwork. Suddenly, her thoughts turned to Surin and fear crept up her spine. She had always known that her brother was a dirt bag but to sink so low was another. Probably the next time they met would be in the battle field. That question that haunted her was would she see him from afar? Or would she facing him in hand to hand combat? Never had she liked her brother but she had never hated him or felt the need to kill him. She once thought that way about her father and she had easily forgiven him. It was then that Anju realised that she was a big wimp. She was not good at killing people unless she really needed to. But she had never tried to kill a relative, she was so doubtful about herself. When the time came, would she be able to do what was right or would her heart stop her?

Hard grey eyes looked at Anju as she finished telling him her idea. They were not enough to make her soul turn cold like their fathers but there was still something in there that made people need to be weary of. It wasn't like she had been expecting this, her idea was very insulting to their clans beliefs and even though her brother had never liked the clans attitude much after she was born, he had never stopped being loyal to the clans beliefs.

"Anju, a clan leader has never given up their position before; it's a rite of passage." Tadashi argued and began rubbing the temples on his forehead, no wonder he was getting a headache, this decision was probably bouncing around in his head like an out of control rocket.

"Let's face it Tadashi I'm not actually normal and I can't rule two clans." When she finished she couldn't help but make a gag face. Did I really say rule? Anju wondered, maybe she should go and see a doctor; she didn't want to be catching the Uchiha bug of big headedness.

"Focus Anju this is serious!" Her brother snapped making her jump out if her skin and back to reality.

"I am being serious!" The Uchiha shouted back at him feeling the anger build up in her chest. Except for the few moments I was worried about big headedness, she worried to herself and now directed all her attention to her brother. "Do you know what will happen if I announce that I'm the next leader? It's going to be chaos and we don't have the time or the energy or the money to sort out any problems that might come afterwards!" It was true; if they found out the Tsukiko clan would cause an uproar and some of them might get so angry and attack; some might even get hurt… or worse. Tadashi rubbed his fore head, suddenly looking ancient, it scared Anju to see him change so easily. She wondered what was making him worry so much.

"Look…" Tadashi stated, sitting himself down on a chair nearby. "I can't do this, our clan has never had much but it has always had principles…"

"Our clan chucked our principles into the dirt when they threw their lives to the hope of a future that everyone knew would never happen!" She screamed at him finally losing it. "Our code has always been to stick together, to fight together and to survive together no matter what and they prepared to throw that all away just because…" No more words could come. She could not focus on talking and stop her tears at the same time. Warm arms embraced her and she knew her brother was trying to comfort her but she didn't want it. Pushing him away she turned her back and forced herself to get a grip. After a few moments she swiped the tears away and straightened herself out. She was a clan leader kami dammit, she couldn't break down. Turning around she faced him and just looked at him. "I'll see you tomorrow." She tried to smile but couldn't find the energy to do it. Turning to the back door she left, feeling his eyes on her back with every step she took until she was gone.

Closing the door of the Hokage's office behind her, Anju leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. She had got the Hokage's pardon; today she would be announcing that she was the new leader of the Tsukiko clan. As if my life couldn't get any more depressing, she sighed as she made her way home. It was quite late but it was the only time that she was able to get an appointment. The air was chilly as November came and people were busy, preparing sales for the upcoming festival. It only made her mood more sour, Naruto was away and she wasn't able to celebrate his birthday with him. She had his present stored away just in case he suddenly decided to turn up. Reaching the Uchiha compound she had to stop a few times to answer some questions from the staff and residents of the area. When she safely made it to her office she locked the door behind her and settled into her chair, picking up the diary in her hands. She had read on a little and was glad to see that Eri getting help and finally making friends, with the other children's help she had been able to raise to the top ten in their class before graduating to genin. Anju smiled, for some reason she felt connected to the girl in the diary and was glad her life was starting to turn a little better. Shaking the silly thoughts from her head, she opened the book and began to read…

_Dear Diary,_

_We got placed into our genin teams today and I got place with Hikaru and some Lee, I'm glad to be placed with Hikaru and Lee seems like a nice guy, a little outgoing but he seems passionate and determined to be a good shinobi but I admit the busy eyebrows crept me out a bit and only graduated on his impressive taijutsu skills. Though I will be sad I won't be spending as much time with Airi as before but she seems happy in her team. We were ordered to wait for our new sensei but the thing was he was over an hour late. Lee was childish enough to place a board rubber on top of the door. I honestly didn't think that a jonin levelled ninja could fail to see this minor trap. Turns out they could. Our sensei is Kazuki Hatake and he's meant to be one of the best, though when we went to the rooftop he didn't seem very nice, in fact he said he didn't like us at all and that we had to pass one more test. I'm so nervous but Hikaru was good enough to help calm me down and with Lee we went to go and plan how to possibly survive our test. _

_Dear Diary,_

_We did it! We passed! We are now an official Genin team! So did some of the other teams including Airi's. We've got our first mission tomorrow, I wonder what it is. I hope it's something high classed, like protecting a diplomatic or something big. _

_5 Entries later_

_Dear Diary, _

_Finally we got some action. We're going on our first C rank mission. We have to guard a row of travel carts to a nearby village, nothing big just need off a few random bandits that might attack. We did some longer training sessions today to make sure we were ready, my muscles are all sore but it was worth. Hatake says he'll find me a good medical ninja to teach me part time as he thinks I have excellent charka control and thinks I'll be a great medic. I've heard there are only a few medical ninjas as much training is needed and needs to be good at ninjutsu. He also said he'll teach me some genjutsu since that's what I seem to be best at. Lee taijutsu seems to be getting better every day and Hikaru seems to already master ninjutsu and he even told me that his mum was going to start teaching him fuinjutsu soon. _

_3 Entries Later_

_Dear Diary,_

_The mission was boring, there wasn't a single attack. But we got go feedback by our sensei and he'll said he'll try and get us more C-rank missions but right now we have to do D rank at the moment. I better not have to catch that stupid cat again otherwise I might just kill it. In fact the chunin exams are coming soon and he says if we get enough experience in time he'll sign us up for it. Going to Airi's restaurant now. There are a little under staffed and I offered to help, it's the least I could do with all the help they are given me over the years._

_Dear Diary,_

_I can't believe it. When I got home last night there was a letter from my father. He wanted to see me. I should have been angry, he just abandoned me and then expects me to come and meet him out of nowhere. But I couldn't help but want my dad back. I thought at first that he wanted to say sorry that he was wrong and that he'd help me become a great ninja. It turns it was completely the opposite. He had heard that I was partnered with the Hokage's son and wanted me to get close to him and learn the family secrets. What he hadn't known was that Hikaru was one of my best friends and had even let me in on a few secrets. In exchange he would let me back into the Uchiha clan. I told him to stuff it! Hirkaru was my friend and he cared about me more than the whole Uchiha compound combined. He hit me but he hadn't expected me to rebound back up so quickly and slash him with my kunai. I left quickly after that. I hope to never relive something that scary again. _

The banging on the door made Anju dropped the diary straight on to the floor. Shocked she scrambled onto the floor and picked it up, stroking the corners gently. Inspecting closely, she made sure it didn't have any dents or corners broken. Sighing with relief that there was no new damage added to. Carefully, she placed it back into the top desk and secured it.

"What is it?" Anju shouted, annoyed that had her reading disrupted. The door slowly creped open and Sakura poked her head in.

"The Tsukiko clan are all gathered around the compound waiting for you." The medic informed her, turning around she looked at the clock to see that it was the right time she had ordered the clan to come and meet her. Deeply, she took in a lot of breath and exhaled, trying came herself. Walking passed Sakura; she saw the deep concern in her friend's eyes. Anju couldn't blame her; she must have looked like shit. Making her way to the front porch where she saw the large crowd gathering. In the distance she could see Tadashi, in his work gear as he was leading one of the horses he had brought recently towards the stables. Noticing the crowd gathering, he stopped and somehow he eyes somehow managed to find her. It took a lot of strength to tear her eyes away from him.

"Yesterday, the Tsukiko leader died…" Anju spoke, he voice firm and confident, even though on the inside, she felt like she might shut down any second from fear. "And he passed his right of cast to me."


	27. THE TSUKIKO DECISION

**The Tsukiko's Decision**

The whole area went silent. Not a single person among the Tsukiko clan or any of the other members in the compound uttered a word. Every single one of them had shocked expressions on their faces. Even the sound of animals could not be heard; it seems the tense atmosphere had put everyone on edge. This had not been the reaction that she had been expecting. Anju had expected angry cries of outrage, houses blowing up and half of the village destroyed by now. But still they continued to look at her with astonished looks. Never in her life had she felt so lost for words. Looking up to Tadashi for support he too looked shocked by this outcome and in the distant saw her guests from Suna coming out from their apartments to watch the situation, curiosity written all over their faces. Slowly, mumbles began echoing across the crowd, all hissing and discussing the information they had just been told. Anju wished she could just activate her sharingan and read their lips but feared that her eyes might cause panic among the people and that was the last thing she wanted. Then the unexpected happened. One by one, the Tsukiko clan got down on their knees and bowed. I must be dreaming, Anju thought to herself and was tempted to slap herself in the face to see if anything happened… What was going on?

"You're all okay with this?" Anju couldn't help but ask even if it did seem unprofessional; she needed to understand what was going on. They all remained bowing, with their heads lying flat on the ground. All of them seemed afraid to speak. Then, one small hand lifted itself up in the air. "Uuummm… the person who just raised their hand, could you come over her please?" She asked, sounding a bit unsure of herself. Carefully, the person got up and made their way towards them. She instantly recognised the child, though she did not know him well, she had seen him running around the camp and playing with his friends, apparently he was always causing mischief. When the small boy approached, she could see he was trembling slightly and his eyes were trying to look anyway but at her. Moving her way down the porch, she sat on the lower step and tapped the space next to her. Slowly the boy made his way up to her and sat where he was told.

"The clan has been stupid milady." The boy swallowed, his eyes locked on hers now, as if he was begging her to believe him.

"Stupid how?" Anju asked calmly, folding her hands in her lap. She waited patiently for the boy to gather his courage. They boy leaned in and gestured for her to come closer.

"Can I whisper it to you milady? My mum will kill me if she found out if I had been eavesdropping on the elder members of the clan." He looked at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes that Anju knew at the moment she could not refuse him that request. Turning to the crowd, she noticed that a couple of heads that had been watching suddenly ducked back down. Looking back at the boy she smiled.

"I promise I won't tell." Anju whispered back and she learnt in to him better as her placed his mouth by her ear, covering it with his mouth.

"All of the clan have been ashamed of themselves for believing that Surin would be the best leader…" The boy informed her, the name of her brother sent a cold chill down her back but she forced herself to suppress the shiver and focused on listening to the rest of the boy's tale. "They all thought they would stand little chance of coming here, since they thought you would turn us away or punish us for our abuse towards you. But we had little choice and thought it was better than nothing. But when you saw us you didn't give us any look of hatred as we thought, you made sure at we were rested and the sick were cared for and we realised that you were a better person then Surin and the clan believes they are stupid for not realising that sooner." When he finished he sat back and back fiddling with his fingers, the same way Anju had noticed Hinata play with hers when she was nervous about something. For a while the half-blood Uchiha could only sit in silence. Slowly, her mind and soul adjusted themselves to the information and the hatred and pain she once had against these people all seemed to disappear at once. Standing up, she patted the child on the shoulder to stand up with her,

"Everyone please stand up!" She called to them and all at once they stood, looking at her with mixed emotions in their eyes. "When I was born the clan became disunited, one by one the clan began to doubt its beliefs and forgot it's most important values, allowing fear and hatred to cover our hearts and block our soul." She looked at every single one of them, watching them all carefully as she looked into every single pair of eyes that stared back at her. She noticed some looked away in shame, others wanting to but not sure if they should. "But it doesn't matter what mistakes we make, what matters is that we are willing to forgive, willing to look at one another and leave the anger behind so we may stand together as family and that we have the strength to overcome fear and let light back into our hearts. Let us rebuild the bond of family between us again." With every word she spoke she felt herself feel free, that so much had been lifted and that hope and love had welcomed themselves back among these people. And from the look she saw on the crowds faces, the same happened to them.

"Does this mean we get to stay here?" The boy beside her asked, staring at her with joy in his eyes.

"Of course!" She beamed down at him before turning towards the clan once again. "Tsukiko clan, I welcome you to Konohagakure!"

Sitting back in her chair, she couldn't help but let out a chair of triumphant. She had finished. Every single report was done. It had taken her three days to sign and comment on all the forms. Usually these forms would be signed by the Hokage but this was part of the deal had set with the Tsunade. Despite bring the Hokage three bottles of her favourite shake it had not been enough to persuade the older woman. She had to finish a week load of work that the Tsunade did not want to work on. Anju was sure the Hokage was having a thrilling week off while she was stuck behind this desk. But now she was finished and she could go and re-join the outside world again. Why does Naruto want to be Hokage anyway? Anju thought to herself as she stood up and stretched the muscles in her back. She thought a walk might work and putting on some comfy clothes, quietly exited through the back door. She headed straight for the woods, embracing the peace and beauty of the natural surroundings. She headed straight for the river, hoping that she would be able to slip her feet into the cool water. But her schedule was interpreted when she found her best friend looking strangely unwell.

"Sakura… are you alright?" Anju asked, bending down beside her and began checking her vital signs. She couldn't find any physical wounds but she could see that her friend was in shock. "Come on woman, Focus!" She yelled at her and tried waving her hand right in her face. For once, the pink medic finally looked at her with big jade eyes that seemed innocent and confused. Then she spoke the three words she next thought she would hear so soon.

"I'm pregnant." All Anju could do was stare back in shock.

Anju was happy that everything had been going very well. For the past month since the Tsukiko clan had been living in the Uchiha compound, the clan had really seem to change. At first it had been difficult for them to adjust, as they no longer had to live in tents anymore and were amazed at our comfortable living in houses could be and how amazing it was to have indoor plumbing and electricity. They also had to adjust to taxes, paying bills and getting a job. It was a good thing the clan had been brought up to look after their expenses because they of had no hope. Most of them had got jobs inside the compound; some became extra security guards, joining the konohagakure shinobi on their rounds and was a great addition to the compounds defence. Others had taken jobs among the hospital staff, adding more nurses and a few doctors to the staff that made the hospital easier to run with the extra help and patients were being looked after twenty for seven and even Jin took on two extra vets. The rest set up trade stands in the village, selling Tsukiko specially designed jewellery or weapons and had become extremely popular among the villagers. No to mention with a little persuasion and a few expensive bottles of alcohol, Anju was able to convince Tsunade to add the children to the schools around the village.

Near the hospital she could see Sakura standing outside talking to some of the nurses. She watched her carefully trying to see if she was showing any signs yet. Sakura and Tadashi were doing well covering their secret up. They acted completely normal, even when Tadashi snuck up behind her and cuddled her from behind; they acted like a normal young couple in love with no worries for the future. But then she saw Tadashi stroke Sakura's belly. It was quick and barely noticeable but it was there. The pink girl turned to look at him and they both smiled at each other. The pit of her stomach twisted painfully as she thought of Naruto and wanted so badly to have him looking at her like that again.

Standing on the front porch of her home, Anju admired the view. It wasn't even evening yet but the sun was nearly down and the children were doing their best to play with each other, while young woman gossiped and man laughed with one another. The compound had never looked so alive, like it had a new meaning to its existence.

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe that we are even at war." Gaara spoke, as he came walking towards her. She nodded in acknowledgement, understanding his thoughts. Sometimes it was easy to forget that they were at war but there was always a grey fuzz at the back of their minds that haunted their every waking moment. They didn't need to be remained that war was happening, they were remained every single day. But it was moments like this to help you remember what you were fighting for.

"Kazekage, how are you this morning?" Anju beamed, climbing down the stairs to meet him.

"Very entertaining, I've just come back from a long meeting of kage's shouting at each other." He shrugged and Anju could not help but wince in sympathy as she thought of some of the shouting matches she and some of the other council members got into when they were debating over the simplest things; it was always an ugly site.

"What were you fighting about this time?" She sighed, hearing about some of the medical debates from what Tadashi and Sakura had gone to see to give their expert opinion. For an army that was meant to be teaming together, they sure did bicker like children a lot. It was almost like what a playground fight when a kid tried to prove his toy was ten times better than the other toys in the universe.

"We finally decided to make Kakashi as commander of third division and myself in the fourth but none in the others… plus, the Raikage brought up his commendations again." At this Gaara smiled as he thought back to it. Anju only rolled her eyes in response. It was the same argument: somehow the Raikage would bring up the subject about how terrible his living conditions were and demand a change; Tsunade would tell him that there was no room (which was true) unless he wanted to move over to the Uchiha compound, Raikage says he would rather die, then the Hokage would tell him to stop being a baby and shut up. Anju had not witness the events herself but what the Hokage and other people had told her it sounded very funny. Besides, the leader of the Uchiha clan was actually glad they weren't here, the Tsukiko clan had taken up more room then she expected and some of the adults had set up a nursery school for the smaller children who were too young to go to the main school. She remembered the first day when she walked in and was instantly attacked by a wild paint brush. Looking back at Sakura and Tadadhi she wondered if their child would be attending the nursery. They would find out soon enough.


	28. WORDS WITH THE RAIKAGE

**Words with the Raikage**

It didn't take long for Anju to realise that the man guessed something was up. She couldn't tell if he had guessed it yet but he defiantly knew there was something different about Sakura. You could see it in his body language. The way his body leaned on the face, as if he was trying to relax but his body was tense with focus. Even under the mask you could see how his jaws clenched together in frustration and his long narrow eye was staring intently at the young medic, watching her every move as he absorbed every piece of evidence and trying to piece the puzzle together. Anju just sat back and watched in amusement. The famous Copy nin could not piece the it together. She guessed it was easier to see the effects if you knew what you were looking for, for example, Sakura's sudden change in the work schedule to move all her shifts into the afternoon since she was suffering from morning sickness or the fact that she was eating twice the amount of food as normal and finally her mood swings were ten times worse than before. As far as she knew, Sakura was still waiting for the right opportunity to tell everyone but Anju really thought that she was waiting for Naruto to return so she could tell her best friend.

"Okay tell. What do you know?" Kakashi demanded, finally giving up staring at Sakura and turned to the woman who was trying to disappear behind the book she was reading. It didn't work as the reading material was suddenly snatched away from her grip. "Tell!" He demanded and at the moment, Anju could not help but fall out of her seat and laugh.

"You sound actually like Ino!" Anju managed to cry out between her gasps for breath. The jonin was very offended by this comment and would deny it but it was clear to see that the Copy-nin and Ino shared the same curiosities and would not let a secret be held from them. But no matter how hard Kakashi pushed and threatened the halfblooded Uchiha the woman refused to tell. Sakura had sworn her to secrecy, until she and Tadashi had found the right moment to tell everyone else. "If you want to find out then go and ask her yourself!" She told him and pointed to the woman. The jonin took this into consideration before suddenly disappearing from view and then reappearing in a cloud of smoke in front of Sakura. The man had obviously not been warned about her sudden mood swings because at his appearance, he spooked her out and watching from a safe distance, Anju saw Sakura turn from shocked to blind fury in a spilt second and sent Kakashi flying to the other end of the compound from a charka infused punch. Why do I have a feeling that's going to come back and bite me in the ass later? Anju wondered to herself as she took a sip from her drink. Shrugging off the feeling, she leaned back and relaxed.

The winter season was getting worse as the sharp stabs of cold air pierced her skin. Pulling the scarf more around her face, Anju forced herself onwards towards the Hokage tower. Even though she had survived in worse weather she still didn't like the feeling of being cold and wind was not helping as it tried to knock her off her feet. Sending more charka into her feet she made herself run faster, leaping into the hair and jumping from rooftop to rooftop to get their quicker. She was happy when she entered the building and the warmness inside engulfed her into a tight hug. Lovely! Anju beamed, as she took her cloak off and scarf and handed it to the receptionist to be hung up.

"Shizune! How are you?" Anju smiled when the woman approached, the assistant smiled back and for a few moments they had a casual conversation before she suddenly turned all serious again and led her towards the main office. Falling behind, Anju took in the usual surroundings around her, watching men and woman ninja walk pass on their way to missions or back to their desks to do paper work; then her eyes landed on the back of Shizune's neck. For a long while she stared at it, trying to make sense of it. "Is that a love bite?" Anju suddenly cried out, even though she didn't say the woman's name, the woman instantly slapped a hand over the bruise and pulled her collar up higher to hide it.

"I … I don't know what you're talking about." Shizune stuttered in her defence but it was already too late as her cheeks already showed a hot pink flush. The Uchiha debated with herself in whether she should force the woman to tell but then decided to against it. She wasn't very good at interrogation methods; nevertheless, she could always drop the point over to Ino later to investigate.

Finally, she was led to the Hokage office but the door was soon kicked open. Shinobi standing around were on high alert suddenly and drew the kunai's out ready to attack. A big man stepped out, he must have been in his fifties but held the body mass of muscle that belong to a twenty year old and dark skin that made his white hair stand out more. The formal hat he was wearing was a dead give away to his identity; the Raikage. Anju gulped at the sight of him and was tempted to jump behind something and hide.

"To hell with you woman!" He shouted back into the office and the next thing that happened was Tsunade storming out with a look of uncontrollable fury written all over her, her fists glowing with charka as she seemed ready to send him flying back to his village.

"Don't be such a baby, you brought this on yourself!" The Hokage shouted back. Even though the older woman was much smaller, she was somehow seemed just as tall as she held his eyes, refusing to back down. It looked like they were about to have a show down right in front of their eyes, they would probably destroy half the village with it.

"Stop this nonsense both of you!" Anju commanded not raising the tone to their level but loud and firm enough to be recognised. Both of the kage's turned to look at her and she saw for a brief moment that Tsunade seemed ashamed of her behaviour before quickly covering it up with an expressionless mask. Well now I've done it! Anju told herself off as she suddenly realised she had thrown herself into the oven with these two. They could probably kick her ass with one arm tied behind their back but since she had already jumped in, she couldn't just back out without looking like a total idiot. "Have you forgotten that you're supposed to be fighting Madara! Not each other! This isn't just a stupid war, it's going to be bloodbath for survival and you are not making anything better by just taking out your frustration on each other and acting like five year olds!" She could feel her voice growing louder as the anger built up inside her more, just think about the war made her go ballistic.

"Who do you think you are to tell us how to act?" The Raikage spat back. Anju turned so her eye sight was only on him. As their eyes locked on to one another, an inner battle of inner strength exploded.

"I'm a shinobi fighting for the same freedom you're fighting for and I do not appreciate the fact that while you squabble over stupid matters that Madara is out there ready to attack when already people have died for our cause!" She simply stated, not removing her eyes. She dared him to tell her that she was wrong! That she was just come silly girl with a big mouth! That she was in an inferior rank to him and had no saying over the matter. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity before the silence was broken.

"Who are you girl?" He asked, not harshly but sounded more curious then anything else. The Uchiha had to fight all temptation to bite her bottom lip.

"Anju Uchiha." She simply stated before walking towards the Hokage's office. "Shall we have a look at those reports Tsunade." She called over her shoulder before entering the room.

Apart from the little spat with the Raikage, the meeting she had with Tsunade was fairly normal. Only a few comments on the evaluations were made but nothing serious was discuss. When she left she found now sign from the Lightening kage and felt it was safe enough to walk home. She made a quick stop over to the flower shop to give Ino some juicy information and to buy a bouquet of flowers to put in her dining room, some yellow sunflowers to lighten up the place. However, when she reached home the flowers began to disappear one by one as the older children from the nursery came over to show the drawings they had just made. To congratulate them she handed out the flowers and in the end was left with only one single flower. Not she minded, finding a smaller vase she place the plant in their and thought that the large yellow petals did make the place seem less dim.

Since she had an afternoon off she decided just to relax and enjoy some quiet time which she rarely got anymore. But as soon as she settled down with a cup of hot tea in her hand and a book in the other, her front door exploded open and before she could do anything Shadow came racing in, jumped on her and began using his long tongue to greet her.

"Shadow! Get off!" She laughed, trying to hold her tea up so it didn't spill anywhere.

"Shadow Down!" Jin familiar voice ordered and the giant cat got back off her, allowing Anju to regain her composure. The Amazon woman stood in tall, wearing a silk gold dress that showed off to much cleavage and thick mascara that enhanced her enchanting gold eyes.

"Date tonight?" Anju questioned, while at the same time stroking the black lions head. Now thinking about it, she hadn't even seen the woman for a long time expected for the guys that came in with ill animals and left with soppy looks on their faces despite the fact their animal was back to normal.

"Yeah, I just came to ask if I can borrow some perfume." Jin asked, combing her fingers through her hair. Pointing towards the bathroom, her friend disappearance leaving her alone to play with the cat.

"Who you going with tonight?" Anju asked when Jin came back into the room smelling of jasmine but had most of her attention holding the fish rod just high enough out of the animals reach for Shadow to work for it.

"With Gai." The older girl replied, checking herself out in the mirror. At first Anju hadn't even notice how bazaar the words were until she had stopped playing long enough with Shadow to remember who the person was.

"You mean Might Gai!" She cried out, actually dropping the toy from her hands. Since the animal had not seemed to pick up on what was happening, the cat sprang for the toy, knocking his playmate over again in the process. "This used to be some much easier when you were a kitten." Anju stared at the beast intently, who just seemed to be happier getting the toy then anything else.

"Yeah, why?" Jin enquired as she finished off applying her red lip stick on.

"I… I just can't see it." She answered, trying to imagine how it was possible that Jin would accepted this guy's requested. Not that there was anything wrong with Gai, a little enthusiastic maybe and had creepy eyebrows but he did seem to have a nice shape and seemed like a good person but she had never really imagined him as Jin's type. Jin just shrugged at the comment as she played with her hair.

"What can I say? One moment I'm examining his turtle and the next we're going to get drinks together then out of the blue he asks me out on a date." She stated and with one more twirl in the mirror to check herself out she was finally satisfied with her appearance. "You wouldn't mind looking after Shadow tonight, I can't help but feel like she's been feeling lonely lately." The dark beauty asked.

"Sure, it would be nice to have some company tonight." Anju smiled weakly, scratching the animal's belly.


	29. FIRE

**Fire**

Having Shadow staying over her house reminded Anju of what life was like before they came here. Somehow the large cat still smelled of the forest, like when they used to only have tents and camping beds as luxuries. It made the woman wonder if her smell had remained the same or if it had changed. She doubted it being the same with how much she had changed and everyone else had changed around her. Snoring lightly, Anju lay in bed as she listened to the beasts deep breathes that came from the bottom of the bed. In a strange way the sound was quite peaceful with its steady beat but Anju knew she had to get up and preform her duties for the day. Carefully, she slipped out of bed and quietly got herself washed and dressed for the day. With one quick look into her office, she groaned as she saw the huge pile of paperwork that had gathered on her desk. I have on day off and already it looks like a mountainous landscape in there! The Uchiha sighed disappointedly and closed the door behind her. It could all wait for another ten minutes; she needed to get some food in her stomach first. Downstairs everything was quiet though when she opened her fridge she found it full. Either Tadashi or Sakura must have snuck in earlier today to fill it up. When she got the chance she would have to thank them later, she could remember checking last night that she only had some left over take out and some that might have been chicken once; the furry green stuff growing on it made it hard to tell. Grabbing the milk she opened the top she was just about to pour it into a glass when a sudden force knocked her to the floor.

What was that? Anju panicked as she wrestled her way back to her feet, just as she regained her balance, she was almost knocked over again but this time held on to the counter top to steady herself. Shadow came running down the stairs, growling intensely at the door and whining slightly; it seemed she didn't know to be afraid or attack. Grabbing a katana off the wall, she strapped it to her back, along with her kunai pouch and ran outside. She expected to see a whole wall with clones climbing over the top. But when she got outside she saw only confusion as guards were around the area trying to find the cause, while civilians were trying to help each other up from the ground.

"Hansuke! What's going on?" She called up to the man, who was directing soldiers left, right and centre.

"I'm just trying to find that out!" He shouted back down to her when he was able to get a short pace to breathe before running off to someone else. While she waited, she tried to help some of the people around her. It was quite chaotic, with screaming children who had hurt themselves and food that had fallen out of grocery bags. Tadashi was out with her, giving nurses orders.

"Have you heard anything yet?" She shouted over to Hansuke after she had help bandaged a child's bloody knee up and saw him running towards her.

"An clone army began bombing the civilian district, I've sent a group of man to help but they are asking for more reinforcements and…" Poor Hansuke was almost knocked over as some dark flashed passed him.

"Tadashi!" She cried out to her older brother who had already disappeared among the rooftops. "Hansuke, send another group and get a medic group out there as well, I'm going after Tadashi!" Anju ordered and without any chance for debate went after him.

By the time she saw Tadashi again he was already a whole distance ahead of her and didn't show any signs of slowing down. Even when she shouted out his name he didn't show any signs of acknowledgement. What was wrong with him? She had never seen him like this before! It scared her a lot. He was heading straight into the civilian district. The area closest to the wall was burning alive with fire, black smoke filled the air and you could hear the screams of people running from the area. Tadashi jumped straight into the middle of it. She lost him as soon as he jumped into the black smoke. Activating her Sharingan, it gave her a better look but she still couldn't find him through the smoke. Every now and again her search had to stop when she found an injured person running through the streets. Even with the help of her sharingan, her eyes watered from the intense heat that surrounded her. Sometimes she would hear a distance shout from the ninja trying to put out the fire but they were soon loss in all the carnage.

"Tadas…" She choked on her own words as she accidently inhaled black smoke. Ripping a piece of her clothes she tied it around her face. It helped a little but if she stayed here any longer she probably die from carbon poisoning, she needed to find her brother and fast. She had to think calmly. Why would Tadashi race over hear? It couldn't have been to help because he would have come with a medic team and stood with the retrieval unit. No there had to be something more. She thought and thought but the only link she could think have was that Sakura' parents lived around here. That's when it hit her. Sakura had meant to come and she her parents to day to tell them of her pregnancy. She wasn't meant to be coming home until later. Oh Tadashi! Anju worried and headed into the direction of Sakura's old home. It was where the fire was most intense and made it hard to get to but sure enough that's where she found her brother, trying to lift a wooden plank off Sakura.

Putting a little more charka into her feet, she ran fall speed towards him. Moving in beside him, she used all her strength to push against the wooden plank. Together they were able to push it up just enough for Sakura to push herself away. She did not look good. The arm that she couldn't use was bent into three different angles, hard serious burns around her skin and was using her good arm to clutch her stomach. Tadashi was beside her in seconds, his hands glowing green as he got to work.

"Tashi… the baby." She spoke weakly. Bending down beside her, Anju got to work, trying to help reline her arm. But what worried her the most was the way her pink haired friend clutched her stomach. Her brother seemed to have the same thought as he moved to it. Gently, he took the hand away from her stomach and froze. Following were he was looking, Anju gasped. A nail had plunged right through the abdomen. "You have to save the baby!" The medic shouted, grabbing on to her lovers arm tightly. With his free arm, the doctor pulled out his stethoscope and placed it firmly over her stomach, she searched for a while, his face growing more and more troubled until finally her found something.

"The baby's okay Sakura, listen!" He secured the stethoscope around her head and allowed her to listen. Relief swarm over her face.

"I don't mean to ruin this moment but we have to get out of here." Anju interrupted as she felt the intense heat of the flames lash out at them. Seeing her point, Tadashi lifted his lover up.

"Wait what about my parents." Sakura cried out and tried to twist around. The siblings turned to look at the direction she was trying to look at but only saw houses on fire and already most of them were already destroyed.

"I'm sorry Sakura! I think it's too late." Anju replied miserably and tried to move them on. But Sakura only fought harder to get out of his hold.

"No I have to save them!" She screamed and tried to fight her way but only screamed in pain. Anju heart ripped apart seeing her like this.

"Tadashi get her out of here!" Anju ordered and ran over to Sakura's house. Tadashi called out her name and she turned to see him looking at her with fear in his eyes. "Get going, I'll be right behind you!" She called back and probably would have had him dragging back if he did not have Sakura whimpering in pain in his arms. He turned and ran.

Raising her arms up to defend herself from the heat, Anju pushed her way inside. It was completely crazy. But she knew she could never look Sakura in the eye again if she didn't try. She rushed through the house, not trying stay in one place for too long; she did a quick search of the place. She only needed to search the lower levels of the house as the roof had already carved in and the staircase destroyed; there was no way she could get up there. The last place she checked was the kitchen, where she found a body. It was clear the person was already dead but she checked for a pulse anyway. Just as she was about to leave, something lunged at her. A cat! Anju thought as she caught the fur ball but the collar. Its claws dug into her arm painfully and refused to let go. Stubborn beast! She cursed and ripping the kitty free and hiding it under her arm. She knew it was stupid but when she ran out of the house she checked the rooms again with no success.

The air in her lungs burned as Anju forced herself to run. She needed to get fresh air in her lungs quick but no matter how far she ran she could not escape the flames. The cat meowed in compliant under her arm; it wasn't really helping the situation. This cat criticises worse than Tsunade! Anju cursed. Finally, she got some luck. She saw green. It was the trees that led to the woods on the far side; if she could just get to them she would be okay. Sending more charka into her heels she sped forward and dive for the open. For once her lungs took in fresh air, not anything poisonous. She coughed widely as her body adjust to the new setting. The cat had managed to wiggle themselves free from her grip and began sniffing around. When she was able to control herself, she turned on to her back and ripped the cloth mask from her face, inhaling the fresh air; she could never believe she had taken something like this for granted.

The cat warned her first. She held it hissed dangerously and opened her eyes to look, just in time to see a sword hurtling straight towards her. She rolled, barely missing the metal as it took a large chunk of her hair with it. Within a second she was back on her feet and took out the katana for defence.

"Sasuke!" She hissed poisonously as she took him all in. He had gotten rid of his Akatsuki clock and wore his long-sleeved shirt that was opened at the torso, with a smaller version of the Uchiha crest on his collar. He wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from his waist and a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, were he would usually keep his sword but right now he was holding it casually by his side. Annoyance burned through her body that he wasn't taking this seriously but then again this was Sasuke Uchiha and she wasn't going to let his lazy, ego manic manner throw her off guard. "Haven't you caused enough death and destruction?" Anju snapped at him but his face stayed emotionless.

"I've come to make you an offer." Was all he said and place his sword back, almost as if he tried to show peace. There was no way she was going to let it fool her for one second and held her sword where it was.

"Not interested!" She spat back, while her mind tried to analysis the situation.

"You haven't even heard it." He spoke with his face still plain but the tone of his voice changed, it almost sounded like he was annoyed.

"That's because I have no interest about anything that comes out of your mouth." Anju spoke, trying to keep her voice low and even. She needed to find a way to shut this guy up. She wanted to attack. Take him out and end him right there and then. But for some reason her body refused. From what she had heard from he was strong; really strong. He had taken out a lot of high ranked shinobi and was ruthless with his ways. For once in her life she felt truly afraid. Before she realised what had happened she found her back against a bark, her sword out of her hand and Sasuke pressing his body against her. He held both her wrists firmly in his hands so she couldn't even throw a decent punch or even tried to scratch his eyes out.

"I'm only going to tell you this once so you better listen." Sasuke ordered and she could felt his hot sickly breath on her skin, the hairs on the back of her neck. "Join our side, the winning side and earn a high ranking place in the new world."

"Over my dead body you son of a bitch." Anju swore and tried to wiggle herself free but it only forced him to push his body closer. Sasuke face was barely and inch away from hers and she was forced to look straight into his cold dark eyes.

"You won't get this offer again." He warned. For a few moments he lingered their taking her in. Little by little he moved in and she could feel his breath on her lips. Oh Kami is he going to kiss me! She thought in alarm. The voice inside her head was telling to fight back but her body wouldn't move.

"Meow!" The cat screeched as the animal landed on Sasuke's head and dug its claws into his scalp. He stumbled away and Anju took this as an opportunity to break free. The cat jumped from his head and back into his arms. Gripping the cat tightly, Anju ran.


	30. OXYGEN

**Oxygen**

She could only sit on the exam table and feel disgusted with herself. If it hadn't been for that stupid cat getting in the way I would of done something stupid or worse! A shiver creped down her spine. She had a chance to take him out and she blew it. Right now a criminal could have been brought to justice but now he was just left in the world to cause more havoc and spread darkness. The demon jumped up from its hiding place and made itself comfortable on her lap. Stupid cat! Anju cursed but she stroked its head anyway. It stretched its legs and purred under her special treatment. Feeling a little light headed again, she used her free hand to grab the oxygen masks and placed it on her mouth, inhaling and exhaling steadily as she refreshed her lungs with pure oxygen. She had inhaled more carbon monoxide then she had thought and had to be rushed to the hospital but other than that nothing serious. The door creaked open and Tsunade stepped into the room. The Uchiha jumped straight to her feet to face the woman, making the cat leap for its dear life. It was a good thing cats had nine lives as this one landed gracefully on its feet and hissed angrily at the girl.

"Is Sakura all right?" Anju asked shooing the cat away as she was more concerned for her friends and future niece's wellbeing. The woman showed her a tired but happy smile in return and nodded in response. If she was angry about not being told that her appetence was pregnant she didn't show it. Breathing easily again, she sat back on the examine table, once again taking some oxygen from the tank.

"It was stupid of you to go back in the house like that." The Hokage suddenly snapped, as her tiredness seemed to suddenly fade away. Though Anju couldn't blame the older woman for the uptight behaviour, the whole incident with the civilian district had left a lot of people shaken. No one in the history of the ninja world had ever directly acted innocent people to viciously like that; ever! It was just another way of Madara showing the lengths he would go to for him to win this war. This guy was something that you woldn't even have in your nightmares.

"I know." Anju sighed as took the mask away from her mouth. "But you should have seen how distressed she was Tsunade! I could have never looked her in the eye if I didn't at least check." Her voice was sore from the heat and poured herself and the doctor as glass of water. Feeling the soothing liquid heal her burned areas made her feel a little better but still ashamed.

"So what happened between you and Sasuke?" The older woman suddenly inquired, probably reading the expression on the Uchiha's face. When she first got to the hospital she was able to inform the Hokage briefly about her encounter with Sasuke but since her voice was failing and Tsunade needed to give her attention to people injured in the blast, so they agreed to talk about it later. Now Anju really wished she didn't have to.

Nevertheless, it was her duty to inform the woman of what happened and regrettably told her the whole story. The woman just stood in front of her and listened carefully, not even interrupting to ask questions. When she had finished, Anju watched the leader of the village cross her arms and look down in deep thought. Now when she usually did that, you knew you were in big trouble. Crap! She cursed and just wanted to shrink smaller and smaller until she would just disappear from existence.

"I think there's something about you that they want." Tsunade muttered to herself but it was still loud enough for Anju to hear.

"Like what, it certainly can't be my fight skills because I'm good but I'm not that good." The Uchiha added to the conversation and was herself thinking it through.

"Well think about it, you're a female Uchiha and Sasuke is a male Uchiha who wants to rebuild the Uchiha populace." Tsunade pointed out and the blood drained from Anju face. As if I didn't see myself as a baby pumping factory already! She sighed angrily and had to sit down to stop herself from fainting.

"Great! Not only am I weak but my only purpose in life is to pump out children, how the hell did I end up being sent back to the old ages?" She whined and took another through breathes from the oxygen take; that thing was really starting to become addictive. If she could she was going to sneak it out of the hospital and use it for her own personal use. Great! Now I sound like a drug addict! Anju cursed when she realised what she was thinking about and also felt a bit weird that it was for something like this.

"You're not weak Anju!" Tsunade shouted at her, dragging her from her depressing thoughts Anju shot up from where she lay and looked at the woman. "You doubted yourself, freaked out, croaked, it happens to the best of us sometimes and you were lucky enough to get away this time but next time you know you have to eliminate him." She told him firmly. The woman might have said more if her buzzer didn't go off.

After a few minutes of sitting in the room by herself, she decided to go and visit her brother and see how the young couple were holding up. Though it took a while to find them since everyone was busy attending patients so she was left to wander the halls by herself and search every room. She finally found them on the third floor; Sakura was asleep but didn't look unwell excepted for the red patches were her burns would be. In a few days the new skin would grow over the old and they would seem like they would never have existed in the first place. Tadashi had his back to her as he sat on the chair next to her and had one of his hands on his lovers. He turned as soon as he heard her footsteps. At first his body was tense when he turned but when he realised it was his sister he relaxed; it seems the attack on the civilian district was bringing out the worst in everyone.

"Anju, I'm glad it's you." He sighed in relief though he looked twenty years older than he should have been. Sitting down beside him, she wrapped an arm around his and held him close.

"If you ever do something that stupid again I'll kill you myself." She muttered, looking up at him and giving him a sweet smile when he gave her a funny look.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time you do something stupid." He smiled back, messing up her hair like she was a little kid. But he did have a fair point; she did run into a burning building trying to save someone when it was clear that there was no one left to see. Unlike Tsunade, she didn't need to explain her actions to her older brother, he knew her long enough to read her mind by now. That sat together in silence, just looking at Sakura and trying to see if she showed any signs of waking up soon.

"So… how did Tsunade take the news?" Anju inquired after a few silent moments, unable to take the quietness anymore. Tadashi winced next to her; whatever the Hokage said or did it wasn't pretty.

"A lot of murderous threats, weapons thrown at me and that was just from Kakashi." He laughed lightly as her older brother took his time thinking through the events in his mind.

"Kakashi was here!" Anju yelled out a little surprised, she thought that he would be on the front line trying to battle the oncoming clones and trying to put out the fire at the same time. Unless it had all finished? How long had she been at this place? "Has the battle at the civilian district stopped?" She questioned and he nodded his head.

"The clones retreated and theirs only a small portion of the fire left, Kakashi came as soon as he heard." Her older brother explained. It all made sense now.

"I should probably go home get the paper work done and get some sleep. Would you like me to check on the horses for you?" Anju asked, getting to her feet and stretching her limbs, she would have to get home sooner or later and if she got their now she could at least get a quarter of the paperwork done by mid-night. The only response she got was a simple nod of the head and Anju could sense that his thoughts were once again on his lover and child. Patting him on the shoulder for comfort, she left, opening that she might be able to fit a relaxing bubble bath into her busy schedule.

By the time it turned mid-night, Anju still felt too wide awake to go to bed. But she couldn't bare to sign another form, the stuff was starting to get to her head. She thought it if she just took a day off she would be able to get back to it without her hand shutting down and cramping up her hand. Though her hand hadn't started complaining yet, she was getting annoyed just looking at all the little letter, asking her to do one thing or the other. Instead she took out the diary from the top draw where she hid it. She read through the first few pages of the diary from where she last read it, Eri mostly talked about how stupid the d-rank missions were and how only mildly exciting the two other c-ranks were, during these missions she went through some extreme emotion distress, especially over her first kill but she got over it, a little too quickly for Anju's likening. The other stuff was about her dad and other Uchiha's, how they used to give her even dirtier looks then before. But there was one entry, just after their sensei had announced putting them through the chunin exams that really caught her attention…

_Dear Diary,_

_I received another letter from the Uchiha compound. At first I thought it was from dad but then I recognise my mother's writing on it. I didn't even bother reading it. As soon as I realised it was from her I ripped the pieces of paper up and chucked it in the bin. She had let me down worse than my father; she didn't have the right to try and talk to me. Until then I thought that was it. I continued my day as usual, went to training with my friends, did a bit of shopping with Airi and then helped her family restaurant at night. All in all it was a good day, until I came home and found my mum trying to slip another letter under my door. When I confronted her, she claimed that she wanted to get out of the village, just me and her with her new boyfriend, start a new life. To be honest I was even surprised that she had offered. But I refused, I made a pledge that I would protect this village not matter what, I couldn't just run. Mum said that I was being stupid, that I had never seen the bigger picture that something bad was coming and when that day came I would be one of the first to go. I didn't even get a chance to ask what she meant because she just left. I hope to Kami that she's just being a crazy bitch and that there isn't anything that bad coming. _

Anju closed the book. What was it that her mum tried to warn her about? Was this what Itachi wanted her to find? She would have to talk to him tomorrow when she had a chance. She even considered reading a bit more but then her eyes felt funny. Maybe I should just rest my eyes for a bit? Anju thought as she slipped the diary back into its special draw. Leaning forward, she leaned her head on her arms and finally fell asleep.


	31. THE PROTECTION SEAL

**The Protection Seal**

Sakura was out of the hospital two days later. But it was going to take longer for the emotional scars to heal. The first thing the woman had demanded was to see Anju herself when she got back to the Uchiha compound. As soon as the mistress opened the door to her house, her friend broke down crying. Bringing her into a hug, Anju could just make out the words of apology through the sobs. The following weekend was a memorial for all those that had perished in the fire, every single person in the village came, even the Raikage and the Kazekage came to pay their respects. There were a few speeches from the Hokage and some of the family members, very moving but there was a sort of strength in them as well. For one day the village was joined together in grief, even the Tsukiko clan had joined as some of the merchants had made friends among the stalls and some of the academy children had lost a classmate. Anju paid her respects to all of them but for Sakura's parents she left a white lily each on their tomb stones. Everyone's main concern was Sakura. By now the whole village knew she was pregnant and all her close friends were keeping an eye on her. Especially Tadashi who was working overtime to make sure his lover was okay. However, there was more to the ceremony than met the eye.

The small group watched Ino guide Sakura away from the graveyard. As they disappeared, she saw Kakashi, Sai and Yamato jump into the trees after them. No doubt Tadashi had asked the three men closet to Sakura to keep a watchful eye over his girl while he was forced to stay behind. Travelling through the small crowd that still reminded, Anju found her brother leaning against a tree trunk, still watching the road where his girlfriend had disappeared to. Sensing his eyes on him, he turned to find her and made his way in her direction.

"You sure you want to do this?" She asked her older brother who looked extremely tired and worried. "I have plenty of other members here to finish of the technique." Even though she insisted on it her brother just shook his head.

"No, everyone knows I'm the best of it so I might as well be here." Tadashi shrugged and yawned at the same time, seeing him like this wasn't very encouraging to his performance but she knew her brother wasn't stupid enough to push himself into doing something like this.

"Can someone explain to me what this is all about?" The Raikage asked, stomping around impatiently; sometimes she even wondered how he got the military commander position in the first place. Tsunade and Gaara gave the man an annoying look but didn't do anything to push the man's anger button. Tadashi opened his mouth to explain but instead another big yawn escaped his mouth. Anju patted him on the arm and pointed him in the direction of the other members preparing themselves for the techniques. Taking her point, he went to go and join the other man and woman.

"The technique we created was to stop the Chi clan from stealing the bodies of our clan and using them." Anju explained, signalling the volunteers to get into position and then wait. "The Chi used the strings that still connected the soul of the body to manipulate it into one of them. We developed a seal that stops all bonds from being hacked into and keeps them safe."

"And you're saying these Chi creatures that teamed up with Madura, they just take any body they can find and turn them into one of them." The Raikage cursed under his breath. Anju couldn't blame him, one moment one guy is stealing bodies and turning them into living puppets and the next there was a dozen people doing it. It just seemed to be getting worse and worse. No one was safe. Even after death the meaning of peace was taken from them. It was sick.

"They won't be able to after we've finished." Anju responded and re-joined her group. All of them were in their places and she stepped into hers. Nodding over to Tadashi, she watched as he began the process, his hand movements a blur. Then, one by one, everyone joined him, their hands moving equally as fast, performing the same signs. Energy rippled through the air as the charka built up between them. Finally, each one of them began to glow, as the charka flared out of them. At the same time, all of them slammed their hands on to the ground. A seal made out of black ink poured out of their hands. It started small but gradually it grew larger and larger until all the chains linked together and glowed blue. Finished. The seal was complete. No way the Chi clan were stealing the bodies now and maybe it would even help protect them from Madara's twisted jutsu as well but they won't know for certain how his technique would affect the seal.

It began to rain about five minutes when they began to head home. That was to be expected, the charka used for the seal was so massive that it shifted the molecules in the atmosphere and made it rain. The heat of the shower was a welcome feeling upon her skin as she took a relaxing shower. Today she was going to bed early, the technique drain most of the energy out of her and just wanted to go to bed. She didn't even have the energy to dress into some pyjamas. The silk was a great gift to be wrapped in. Her body relaxed all at once and fell straight too sleep.

Anju woke in the middle of the night. She didn't know why since she could feel her body was still heavy with tiredness. But she had a bad feeling; a really bad feeling. Sitting up in her bed, she wrapped a blanket around her body and stole a kunai from the bedside table. She creped around the house, checking every corner, shadow and even under the kitchen table to be sure. Nothing. Never in her life had she felt so stupid. Pounding on the door almost scared the life out of her and the kunai was began in her hands into a defensive position. Who could that be? She wondered, it was the middle of the night and it was still raining heavily.

Holding it in front of her, the female ninja slowly made her way to the door. She could just make the shadow of a tall man behind the doors curtains. Slowly, she moved the curtain out of the way to see outside. Oh my Kami! Gasping, she got rid of her weapon and began unlocking the door. For once in her life, she stared at her brother standing in the door, smelling of alcohol. She helped him towards the guest bedroom and saw him fall asleep as soon as he hit the mattress. Like a good older sister, she took off his shoes and kunai pouch and threw the blanket over him. Maybe that was what she had a bad feeling about. Even though Tadashi rarely drunk he was able to take in a lot. So to find him drunk must have meant that he had experience something bad. She racked her mind with worry and thought as she tried to think of what possibly happened. All she could remember was Tadashi returning home, she had even walked with him so she knew he hadn't just wondered off. She guessed she would have to wait for tomorrow morning to find out; hopefully he didn't have a hangover.

Returning back to bed, she got in and tried to sleep but she still had a bad feeling that this was just the beginning of the chain of events that was about to happen.

She awoke the next morning feeling even more tired than she ever thought possible. All through the night she had spent her time tossing and turning in bed, only falling asleep when the first signs of the rising sun appeared. Every cell in her body moaned at her to go back to bed but sadly she had duties to attend to as usual the unforgiving pile of paper on her desk that was growing very second she was away from it. Doing a few yoga stretches to rid some of the tension in her muscles, she changed into some comfortable gear and went down stairs for breakfast.

It was when she had finished heating up some left over rice in the fridge did she hear the loud thumps on the stair case. Anju almost shrieked in a little from surprised when she saw a zombie like creature entered. Then she realised it was a hangover Tadashi. Her brother didn't say anything as he slumped into the chair and placed his head on the table. Quickly, she got to work and dashed around the room, grabbing all the ingredients she needed from the cupboards. She was now very grateful for the blender that Kakashi had brought her as a welcoming present to the village. Before she had just believed that the man had grabbed the most random thing off the self to give to her but now she was glad. Tadashi groaned when he heard the noise of the blended but most of the time just kept his head on the table and stayed silent. Finished, she poured the contents into a cup and grabbing the back of her brother's head, pulled him upright and forced him to drink it. From the twisted look of disgust on his face, you could tell he just wanted to throw it back up.

"What is that?" He demanded to know after he forced it down him but soon regretted it as he secured his hands on his head, as if he was trying to hold his head steady.

"Your amazing hangover concoction you made years ago to help Hansuke with his hangovers." Anju smiled back as she began to clean up. Her brother just continued to look into space as if he was having trouble taking anything in at the moment without his head falling off. On about five minutes it would begin to work. It was specifically designed to help overcome hangovers. The formula worked miracles but the taste of the stuff let you mouth tasting weird for days. The Uchiha had tried it once to see what Hansuke had been complaining about; then wished she hadn't. Slowly, she saw Tadashi began to regain consciousness to the world but it did not remove the sour expression on his face. Before Anju could ask why he had been crazy enough to do something stupid like that, he was suddenly back on his feet.

"I'm going for a shower." Was all he said before disappearing back upstairs. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she decided to leave it for now and hammer him with questions later. Right now she had a shit tone of work to do.

For once the paper work had not been so bad. She was done by mid-afternoon for a late lunch but it was not quick enough to stop Tadashi leaving the compound around noon. She had watched him leave from the mirror on her wall and could not help but notice how hunched his shoulders were, as if all the weight of the world was on his head and pulling it done. She wondered where he was going but decided she would only be able to find out later when he was back. Sitting in her room, Anju wondered if she should go and ask Sakura but then remember the girl was still grieving from her parent's funeral. Right now she would just have to wait for the man to return, she didn't want to worry the pink haired girl with upsetting questions at moment. Instead, she focused an hour of her time going through the diary.

_17 ENTRIES LATER_

_Dear Diary,_

_We've just made it through the second stage of the chunin exams and on our way to the three. Just when I thought the first exam had screwed us enough the second exam was worse. Nevertheless, we made it before the time limit with both scrolls. There was quite a lot of us so we had to go through the preliminary rounds, me and Hikaru made it through but Lee lost. Airi got through as well, plus two cloud ninjas, a rain, two sand and three mist. He was so close by that guy made a fake move the last second and knocked him out. We all have to wait a month for the third exam to work on some new jutsu's so we could surprise everyone. Hatake sensei's going to be my teacher while Hikaru got some extra tutoring with his father and uncle. Hikaru was so lucky, not that I'm questioning sensei's abilities –he was amazing- but Hikaru's relatives were legendary. Even though I would never admit it out loud, I hope I never have to face my friend in the tournament. _

_3 ENTRIES LATER_

_Dear Diary, _

_I lost against Hikaru in the final stage. A month went by faster than I wanted and I did not feel ready for the exam at all. In the morning I was jumping with nervous and was unable to eat much that morning. It kind of went away for a second when I stood in the middle of the stadium and saw everyone applauding us. But it quickly came back as soon as they announced the first match. My match. Somehow I managed to push all my nerves back and get on with the fight. I was actually surprised I won, then I won the next one and then I had to face Hikaru. It went on for a long time and the only reason I lost was that I was completely drained of charka. We won't find out who a chunin is for a couple of days but I don't think I made it. Maybe next time me and Lee will make ot next time but until then we would have to train two times harder. _

_2 ENTRIES LATER._

_I MADE IT! I'M A CHUNIN! It caught me completely by surprise. I had been out with Airi when sensei puffed right in front of us and said that we made needed to go to Hokage tower instantly. We got their and met up with Hikaru who was waiting outside his dad's office. When we got into the meeting room, the Hokage sat in the middle of the table with the elders and council members. That's when they told us. I'm still wearing my green chunin jacket. I can't bare the thought to take it off. _

Smiling to herself, Anju took a break from the reading and placed the diary away. She didn't know why but Anju had a strange proud feeling rising in her chest. Strangely the girl reminded her of Naruto a little. The door suddenly creaked opening and Tadashi came in, looking lean and sharp but had a miserable expression on his face.

"We need to talk."


	32. THE EFFECTS OF TADASHI'S ABSENCE

**The Effects of Tadashi's Absence **

A few days later, Anju stood by her window and watched the scene unfold before her. It was not a nice sight to watch. Sakura was crying, trying once again to try and get her love to stay, Tadashi packing while reassuring her that he was only going to be gone for a few days, not to mention both Sai and Kakashi sending mental deadly daggers at his back. Thank Kami Rock Lee was on a mission because the chaos that would have been created would be unimaginable. As Anju thought about it, she could sort of understand what he was doing; but it was still a stupid idea. Tadashi believed that Sakura needed some time to grieve alone and allow her to think if she really loved him and wanted to spend a future with him. Immediately, Anju had protested to the idea. Nevertheless, Tadashi remained firm, he believed that with all the pressure happening in her life at the moment she needed some time to herself so that she could breathe and not have him over her shoulder like a hawk.

Only when Tadashi and his team made their way towards the south gate and Sakura was safely walked back home through the east gate, did Anju sneak out the back door and run around the west side of the wall to meet her brother. She made it just in time as Tadashi, Jin and Hansuke were just about to take to the trees.

"Are you sure about this Tadashi?" Anju asked for the thousandth time that it was beginning to make her tongue feel numb with effort.

"I'm sure." Tadashi nodded, his face expressionless but the Uchiha knew her brother well enough to know he was beaten himself inside. "Besides, it's not like I can take it back now, Tsunade's already looking for an excuse to kill me." He tried to shrug, a small smile spread on his face. Even though being a victim of the Fifth Hokages wrath, seeing how twisted and 'odd' looking her face was actually kind of funny. You just had to make sure you never mentioned it in front of the old woman otherwise she would come after you; Hokage responsibilities or not. Rolling her eyes, she pulled her brother into a firm hug.

"Be safe." She whispered into his ear and kissed him on the cheek. The only response she got was a knowing smile. Before she left she gave similar hugs to Jin and Hansuke (expected for the red head she added 'don't do anything stupid' for some reason he found it insulting) with the farewells down she watched the three man group disappear into the forest. For a while she just stood there watching the spot that she saw them swallowed by. A sudden breeze caught her by surprise, sending spikey chills that stabbed at her nerves. What is with this sudden horrible feeling? Anju wondered to herself as she gripped on to her arms and rubbed them fiercely for warmth. Pushing the feeling into her unconscious, she made her way home.

Though Sakura still had twenty-four hour watch on her (even if she didn't know it) Anju still like to visit her during her lunch breaks to see how she was going. Sometimes she would bump into one of the other girls and they would have a nice girly time. But it was not hard to miss the repeated looks she threw out the kitchen window, as if she was expecting someone to jump through it. To everyone's surprise, the pink haired medic was holding up surprisingly well in her lovers absence.

One day, it was just Anju visiting, both girls sat in complete silence. Sakura sat on the window ceil, staring out in the distance. Watching the young woman out of the corner of her eye, the Uchiha mistress prepared some tea, adding a dab of honey into the cup for her friend. Hopefully this will calm her done a bit? Anju thought to herself but doubted it would actually work. Sighing to herself, she lifted the cups up and handed on to the pink haired woman. Taking the seat beside her, the women sat in silence and drank the hot liquid. It was a beautiful afternoon, even if it was winter, there was a warm breeze and the sun was high in the sky, beaming down on the happy civilians of the hidden leaf village.

"Am I a bitch?" Sakura suddenly asked out of the blue, this sudden comment nearly made Anju drop her drink on the floor but she was able to stable herself just in time.

"What!" Anju cried out still in shock from the question. "No of course not! Why would you think that?" The young woman cried out, only quieten her voice at the last second when she realised she was a little too loud. In response, Sakura just shrugged, as if she hadn't even realised that she had asked a question in the first place.

"I just thought maybe that's why Tadashi left? Maybe I pushed him to hard, it wasn't fair how I…"

"Stop right there sister!" Anju ordered, a little frustrated at her best friends behaviour. She knew the girls hormones where going a bit crazy with the pregnancy but to keep blaming herself was just the pink haired woman being ridiculous. Taking a deep breath to ease away the anger she was feeling, she stood up and transported herself over to the window ceil and sat next to the girl, scooping up Sakura's long, slender fingers into her own hands. Until now she had not realised how cold they were. "Listen to me Sakura, Tadashi didn't leave because he doesn't love you anymore. He left because he sensed that your guys needed to space." Anju smiled warmly at her friend but she sense that her words had brought like comfort to the medic's fragile state of mind. The neutral expression that had existed on her face just seconds before was now twisted to look like she was on the verge of falling apart. Tears dripped slowly from the corners of her eyes at first and then grew into crashing floods. The Uchiha didn't know what to do, she wasn't used to being in these conditions; usually it was the opposite way around. She thought hard as her brain whizzed past memories of what people helped her in these situations. Finally, she got up the courage to wrap her friend in a tight hug and whispered any comforting words she could think of.

Anju took it as a good sign with what she was doing was helping as she didn't find herself flying through the walls of five houses or being pushed away at least. After a few moments that pink girl was able to calm herself once again and tried fiercely to wipe around the evidence of her outburst. Leaving to make some more herbal tea (since the other lot had gone cold) the lady listened at her friends quiet sniffles, making sure that she wasn't needed to run over to her and comfort her again. Tapping her feet impatiently as she waited for the water to boil, she moved with lightening reflexes, as she prepared the stuff and made her way back to Sakura. Now if only I could only move that fast in battle, Anju smiled to herself at her own silly thoughts and took a deep relaxing sip. Too bad at that moment she had forgotten it was boiling hot water she was drinking and had to use all her might to swallow the stuff back and not cry out if the stuff brunt her mouth. My brain seems to be working against me told! She cursed herself and placed her cup away. Trying to resist the temptation to fan her poor tongue.

"I'm scared Anju." Sakura silently whispered. In fact, Anju had almost missed it being said and probably would have if there wasn't a sense of urgency or despair in it. Looking at her friend, she found herself looking into water filled emerald orbs once again, only this time they hadn't leaked yet. "How am I going to be able to raise a baby by myself during a war?" Never in her life had the Uchiha seen someone look so lost. As she studied the expression on her face she realised that that look… was one she once wore herself.

"It's alright to feel scared Sakura." The Uchiha tried to sooth the cherry blossom and held on to the girls hand tightly. "When Tadashi gets back he'll help you through all of this, not to mention you've got Aunty Anju here to help and all your friends." The words seemed to help a little and holding her tightly in a comforting hug, Anju could only pray that she was right.

Sweat poured down her brow as she jumped back to avoid another attack. The muscles in her legs argued in protest but she ignored them and took the trees for cover. Using the bark of a solid oak for cover as she took a moment to catch her breath. Kakashi was really pushing her to her limit today and she liked to think she was pushing his as she noticed him breathing heavily earlier. It was nearly sunset and they had been training since sunrise. In all fairness, it was her fault that she was in her situation. But how was she was meant to know that he got touchy when people called his hair grey; honestly, the guy needed a reality check. So here she was, sweating heavily, with a few cuts and bruises and her clothes torn. Once her breathing began to slowly turn back to normal, she risked leaning around the tree to see if the man was still somewhere in the surroundings. With no sign of him, Anju jump on to one of the higher branches to try and get a better view but didn't risk moving forward just in case she suddenly found herself falling to her death. As she studied the scene before her, she did not sense the presence sneaking up behind her. But for once in her life luck was on her side. Earlier in the day, it had begun raining. Nothing special about that, except water mixed with dog fur could create a terrible smell. They wind blew under her nose and she caught a sniff of wet dog. Jumping to the side, she barely dodged biscuit about to tackle her, sending the dog falling to his death. Forcing charka to her feet she used all her might to send her hurtling towards the animal. Grabbing the back of his collar, she re-adjusted the charka in her feet and used it to grip onto the bark.

"No more climbing trees for you." She warned the animal as she placed him on the floor, before jumping back up into the leaves for cover and changing her position; no doubt the amount of noise they made would have dragged the other eight to her location. Looking into the sky she noticed that the sun was completely gone and the moon was taking its place. Right now she just wanted to give up and go to bed but another part of her refused to let Kakashi win and that was what kept her fighting until the early hours of the morning.

It seemed that Madara had increased his activity during the next few days or people were scared out of their wits because the amounts of missions were increasing rapidly. All her friend were on missions excepted herself and Sakura (being a clan leader sadly does that and being pregnant doesn't help either) even some of the Tsukiko clan members had been requested to help pick up some of the files that were beginning to grow higher and higher on the Hokage desk; Tsunade was not a happy woman with all the extra paperwork.

Even though Anju didn't actually like fighting, she hated to be stuck in her office while others were out fighting. The muscles in her body burn to go out there and kick some ass. Besides, she didn't see why being a clan leader should stop her from not participating with the village's security. But she would be surprised if Tsunade actually let her go. Anju could only imagine having the whole 'you're the last Uchiha we have to protect the blood line' blah blah type of nonsense. Nevertheless, she added an intense workout schedule into her busy life. Just because she wasn't out their fighting didn't mean she should lose her skills. Any time, any day from not there could be attack on the village walls by the white clones. Plus, she didn't want another encounter with Sasuke Uchiha feeling scared ever again. To help managed the time, she had appointed two new assistants to deal with the compliments and minor trade documents, which meant at least forty-five per cent of her paperwork had disappeared. This allowed her to spilt her time between preforming her duties, training and checking in on Sakura.

Anju crossed another day off her calendar. Just one more day and then Tadashi should be home, the Uchiha smiled to herself. She could just imagine her best friend at her own place watching the clock tick by, counting down the seconds till Tadashi and the rest of team's arrival. Crawling into bed, she tried to sleep. But soon her body became restless and no matter what she tried her body would not stop tossing and turning. Finally giving up she sat up and stretched. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the diary sitting on the bedside table. Her fingers itched to read it and after some debate with herself she began to read.

_3 year skip_

_Dear Diary, _

_I shouldn't be jealous. He's my best friend for goodness sake and it's obvious that he and Airi were destined for each other. But lately I've been having weird… feelings for him. Every time he compliments me I can't help but blush and then my stomach performs stupid flips every time I see him. So why can't I get rid of this stupid feeling. Maybe's it's because Lee's obsession with me lately has grown to new heights and my attention is being focused somewhere else. Well, whatever it is I want it to stop before I do something stupid. _

_3 Entries later_

_Dear Diary, _

_Finally some action! I love being a medical nin and everything but just being stuck in hospital all day can be tired some. Sometimes I like to think that the only fun I get sometimes is when I had have to hunt down my old sensei and drag him to the hospital to get check up every now and again; I honestly hope he doesn't pass the trait on to his son or future grandchildren. I've not had an A-ranked mission for some time now (seriously, what's the point in having jonin status if I can't use it for anything) so it feels good to have Lee and Hikaru here to have my back. Still even after two years it still feels weird not have sensei here anymore for debriefs. Not to mention the mission itself sounds a little disturbing, rogue nin randomly killing merchants, something doesn't feel right about this. _

"Aaaarrrggghhhhh!" The cry freaked Anju out some much that the diary went flying from her hand and smashed into the opposite wall. Forgetting about the book she grabbed her cloak and slung her katana across her back and ran out of the building towards the sound. She came to a sudden halt when she saw a group of her security guards running into the hospital, carrying a group of people. Instantly, she ran in after them washing her hands and strapping on some disinfected gloves, helping the other nurses carry in some of the supplies the doctors would need. She turned towards the first bed and froze. No! Anju wanted to scream out but found the ability to speak gone. She ran to the side of the bed.

"Hansuke!" She cried out in fear as she damped his forehead. Her friends only reply was the inhuman screams he shouted out.


	33. HELPLESS

**Helpless**

Anju watched over the two crib beds like a grief stricken mother ready to aid her children as soon as they woke up or needed her. But there was nothing she could do now. The team had spent four hours putting Hansuke's small intestines back into his body and piecing Jin's lungs back together. Hearing what happened was the worst part of it. Even though she had tried to tell her friend to rest he still insisted on telling her what happened.

The mission had been a success. Not surprising since the mission was kids' stuff to them. The guy was clearly not in league with Madara or any other crazy master mind, it had been the maid who was bitter over being used as a sex toy with the lord's son and had spread the rumours to try and get them into trouble. Even though the team had felt pity towards the maid, she was still arrested for her false accusations. It had all turned wrong on the way back. They had not been far from the main gate, another few miles and they would have been home, hell they were so close they even bumped into a few teams already leaving the village for their assignments. Hansuke blamed himself. He had been trying to prove that he could jump from tree to tree by standing on his hands. At first he had been doing well but he had slipped and fallen into a trap. No one had realised he had even set off a seal trap until a huge spike pieced through his stomach. They were ambushed, outnumbered fourteen to one. They had had worse odds before but they never had to fight Madara before. Hansuke could only watch hopelessly from where he lay, as Tadashi was left to fight Madara and Jin was left with everyone else. But when Jin got injured everyone had turned on his leader and suddenly they were gone. He didn't know how but he somehow found the strength to push himself of the spike and carried Jin to the gate.

The worst thing was having nothing to do, so Anju was left to think; not any good thoughts either. One moment her mind was haunted by the images of her friends pale faces, the next she panicked over what happened to Tadashi. At the moment a team was out looking for him and Tsunade was with Sakura, trying to comfort her daughter figure and threatening to kill anyone that disturbed her at the same time. What angered her the most was that she was not allowed to go and search for her own brother. It was driving her nuts just sitting there and doing nothing except pray. Never in her life had she felt so useless. She needed to take a break and moving as silently as she could, left the room and closed the door as quietly as she could, so she wouldn't risk waking them up; even though they were probably so drained of blood that they wouldn't be awake for another week or so.

Splashing water on her face, Anju tried to breathe deeply, to make sure oxygen got into her body before she passed out herself. She didn't know if she could take this. Facing bad situations before had been bad but during those times she had her brother. Tadashi was her rock and now without him, she honestly didn't think she could survive without him. To knock some common sense back into her, she smacked herself hard on the cheek and threw more water into her face. Get a hold of yourself! Anju told herself firmly. But no matter what she tried she could not get her head in the game. Nevertheless, she threw a façade up and made her way back to the resting room, hoping that the appearance she was showing would fool the evening staff. Turning the corner, she suddenly froze. Anju could have sworn that she had closed the door behind her. But now it was open. Not by much, just a small crack so that light from the room escaped into the room. Slipping a kunai out of her sleeve, the Uchiha activated her sharingan and slowly made her way to the opening. With her kekki genkai, her eye sight was ten times better than normal and didn't need to approach the door to be able to see what was happening through the gap.

Gai stood next to Jin's crib just staring at his lover. After some time, he finally took a seat and sat down next to the bed and held her hand, massaging her skin carefully. Seeing the intimate moment between them, Anju felt like she was intruding on something special between and carefully creped away.

With nothing else to do and not wanting to go to bed anytime soon and confront her nightmares, Anju went straight back to reading the diary. She was almost finished and she had not yet found the answer to what the strange tomb was. Having a large cup of coffee to help keep her awake, she sat herself on the bed and began to read.

_Dear Diary,_

_We managed to find some information for a local spy about the rogue's location. Hikaru has already set a plan into motion. They are not a big group, we were told ten was the maximum amount and only two are jonin level like us. The plan is simple, hit hard and hit fast. We attack at midnight, Lee and Hikaru take out the jonin's while I take out the others. But the bad feeling I've had since the start just grows more and more by the day. I mistrust the informant but I have no evidence to use against him. Still I told the guys but they think I'm just being paranoid but I remain unconvinced. We attack tonight, I pray that I am wrong._

_Dear Diary,_

_I still can't get the events out of my head and I'm still going through a stage of denial. My instinct had been right. It had been a trap, we fought with all we could but then we had to retreat. Why did Lee have to be a hero I knew he had feelings for me but he didn't… I can't think about it. Even as a medic I can never imagine so much blood. I tried to save him, I really did but his spine had been cut straight through, he had died instantly. Hikaru went made and unleashed something I had never seen before. All the rouges were wiped out. But there was nothing we could do to numb the pain. We went completely numb after that. I don't even remember how we got back to the room we were renting or where we had got the booze from. But I do remember the shouting. Again Hikaru snapped, turning on me. Blaming me for Lee's death. He was right. It was my fault. It should have been me that had been cut in half not Lee. I cried. I said I was sorry. I wished it had been me instead. Next thing I knew he was hugging me, telling me he was sorry, that it wasn't my fault. He said he was confused, hurt, angry. I told him I was as well. Then we were all over each other, clothes ripped off, our hands feeling each other's skin, kissing each other like we only had a few seconds to live. When we woke up the next morning we felt ten times worse. Not only had Lee died but we had cheated on Airi. It had been a mistake. We hadn't been thinking straight. We promised to forget about it, like it never happened. Now we just have to deal with the cause to taking Lee's body back to his family._

_Dear Diary,_

_I haven't written in a long time. So much has happened. Lee's funeral drained everything out of me and I've been keeping myself busy in the hospital, trying to avoid Hikaru and Airi as much as possible. Not to mention I have not being feeling well at all. I can't keep down my breakfast and I'm exhausted more than usual. Lee's funeral must have taken more out of me than usual. I hope I get over this quickly. _

Tap. Tap. Tap. The soft beats slowly woke Anju to consciousness again. She hadn't realised that she had fallen asleep while she was still reading. The proof came to finding the book cover half covering her face when she woke up. She had a massive headache and wished that she could retreat back under the covers of her bed for warmth and comfort. But then images from last night filled her head and she soon turned against the idea. Moving towards the door, she found it difficult to stop her feet dragging across the floor because they were so heavy. When she did finally reach the door, she was shocked to find Kakashi standing in her door way. Before Anju could say anything, Kakashi spoke.

"We found Tadashi."

Anju didn't know what she going to see but she imagined the worse. Even though she didn't want to think like that she had to be prepared for whatever was wrong with him. She followed the shinobi to the hospital. Telling herself to breathe properly since she was finding it difficult to do it properly at the moment. But when she finally saw her older brother, Anju couldn't see what was wrong. He just looked like he was sleeping, a little pale but she couldn't see any obvious injuries. Sakura had already arrived before Anju and Tsunade was doing a check over. At first Anju was angry. How did Sakura know before her? She was his sister after all and leader of the compound and should have been informed first. But it all disappeared when she saw how gentle the pink haired medic was being with him and how she looked at him longing. There was more love in those eyes then any brother or sister relationship could share.

"How is he?" Anju finally managed to ask after a while of just standing on the same spot.

"He's fine physically but someone used an incredibly powerful genjutsu, I won't the effects until he's woken up, for now he needs plenty of sleep." Tsunade answer, most of her attention was on the clipboard that she was working on. A sudden groan made everyone freeze. At the same time everyone turned to look at Tadashi, who was slowly beginning to wake up.

"Tadashi." Sakura cried out, relief flooded out of her like an earthquake, setting the whole room to soon settle. For the first few seconds, Tadashi just stared at her, blinking like a confused child. Then he smiled.

"I must be in heaven because your beauty must belong to an angel." He smiled up at her. Gently, the medic slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Oh! A feisty angel." Tadashi teased earning him another playful slap. Anju instantly felt a stab in the chest. It didn't matter that she was blood related or not. To those two she was non-existent. As quietly as she could, the Uchiha slipped out of the door.

Depression set in quickly and Anju curled back into bed. She knew it was childish but since she didn't get much sleep she thought she would make an exception. But now that she tried to sleep, it never came. Well that's just great! Anju cursed, wanting to kick the covers off her in fury but felt too lazy and warm to do it. Turning on to her side, she tried to get into a better position but instead of becoming more comfortable, something poked her in the eye. Damn diary! Anju hissed and not it to the side. Only to regain interest in it seconds later.

_Dear Diary,_

_I can't believe this is happening! I hate myself for not recognising it sooner, I'm a fucking medic for Kami's sake. Oh Kami how am I going to tell Hikaru I'm pregnant? I'm really debating whether I should tell him or not. I mean it was just one time. I can't get rid of it! I mean it's not the kid's fault this happened and that's just cruel. I'll just have to take some time off. I have some money saved up. I'll just disappear for a year; say it was some much needed time away, doing some soul searching. Then I find a family for it… her… him… Oh this is so confusing! I'm already two months. I need to get out of the village while I have the chance._

_Dear Diary,_

_I have no idea what happening. That last thing I remembered was exiting the southern gate and suddenly I find myself in some kind of dungeon. At first I thought it was other ninja kidnapping me for information, until dad came to see me. I don't know how but he somehow worked out I was pregnant. He says we can't have half breeds and that I would pay for my betrayal to the clan. They took away all my weapons, luckily I had this tucked into my belt and they missed it. I tried to get out but no such luck so far, I'll have to wait for the perfect time to strike. But for I've only got this to keep me sane for now._


	34. TRUTHS UNTOLD

**Truths Untold**

It was early morning now but Anju had not slept a week since she began reading the diary last night. At the moment, her fingers were tracing the edges of the few pages that she had left to read. Right now she was debating with herself on whether she should read on. All night she had read about Eri traumatic time trapped in the dark cell. Not knowing what was meant to happen to her or her baby. No one even spoke to her. The only human contact she had was from the guard that slid her food through the gap of the door. But no matter how much she suffered, Eri strength grew stronger. Not at first though. At first she had been depressed, thinking of ways to kill herself so she could end the misery. Then after four and an half months of despair, something kicked. She had panicked at first, not sure where it had come from until it kicked again. That's when she decided to change. She was going to figure a way out of this place but had yet to come up with any ideas. Then one night, Eri happened to overhear that her own father would be requesting her presence soon.

Anju had slammed the book shut right there and then. Itachi had told her the clue to all the tombs secrets was inside this diary. Now she felt to frighten to even consider the possibilities. Raking her fingers through her hair, Anju swept away the strays of greasy hair out of her face; when was the last time she had a bath? Too long, she had been too busy with the compound and had settled with just tying it all into a bun. She decided now was the best time to actually have one; take a break from all the drama. Climbing off the bed, she wrestled with her clumsy feet over to the bathroom door, cursing herself as she stubbed her foot against the door frame. It seemed even trying to take a quick shower was proving a challenged for her lately. She had never felt so sad. She wished she had someone like Tadashi, not in a brotherly way but in the emotional state that Sakura and Tadashi shared. She wished Naruto was here. The hot water beating on her back was a small relief as it helped to massage the tension out of her muscles. It was nice to feel clean again. Feeling slightly refreshed. Anju sighed to herself and decided it was time to get on with her duties. Even with the all the paper work, she was able to put a small smile on her face with the surprise she had in store for everyone. Dressing herself and drying her hair, Anju eyed the diary still lying on the bed. After some thought she placed it back in her bedside table draw. The diary could wait for now, she needed a break; otherwise she would be driven crazy.

Half way through her day, Anju was surprised to receive an urgent summons from the Hokage. Switching her formal foot wear with her sandals, she left instantly for the village. Jumping from roof to roof, she sure a sudden increase of jonin moving around. Had there been a breech in security somewhere? It was impossible to know until she found the Hokage.

Approaching the Hokage's office, she did the usual three rapid taps on the door and then stepped back. After a few moments of waiting and not being able to hear any abusive language or objects smashing against the walls, Anju decided it was safe to step in. Inside the Hokage sat at her usual place behind the desk with Shizune position dutifully behind her and the Raikage to the left.

"Hokage, Raikage." Anju greeted politely and bowed. She could sense that this was a formal meeting and decided to act appropriately.

"Anju, thank you for joining us at such short notice." Tsunade answered (surprisingly very formal for the Hokage's usual way) directing the Uchiha to the seats that had been placed in front of her desk. Anju gratefully took one while the Raikage sat in the one next to her. Arms folded, heavy breathing and a twitch in his left eyebrow, Anju sense that the kage of lightening was not in a happy mood about something and through experience of past meetings with him, it was a debate over the Cloud Ninja's settlement again. "If it's okay with you Anju the Raikage has finally agreed to arrange his people's quarters over to the Uchiha compound." The Hokage smiled a little too smugly while the Raikage just seemed to get more annoyed but was still able to control the short fuse of his temper. Anju had never been so tempted to laugh at moment, as the vain on the kage's forehead began to visibly show against his temple. Supressing the urge to laugh, the Uchiha made sure now was no hint of amusement in her voice as she answered.

"I will need a little time to prepare some of the arrangements but the Raikage is allowed to join us whenever he likes." Anju smiled pleasantly, though her actions in no way seemed to ease the Raikage's temper.

"I wish to have my men move in tonight." The Raikage answered, speaking for the first time and trying to avoid all eye contact with the woman.

"That is acceptable." Anju replied, trying to look in the opposite direction as the throbbing temple on his forehead was quite distracting. Taking this as the matter closed, the kage decided it was time to take his leave and mumbled his thanks as he left the room. As the door slammed hard behind them, the woman listened and waited for the lightening kages footsteps to disappear down the hall.

Five, four, three, two, one! At the exacted moment all three woman still left in the office burst out laughing. It must have had something to do with the dis-comfortable look on man's face that set them off as they could not stop laughing for what seemed like an eternity; even when their lungs burned desperately for oxygen.

"Did… did you see his face?" Tsunade finally managed to splutter out, making everyone laugh even harder than they thought they possibly could. All of them had tears dropping from the corners of their eyes and were finding it hard to swipe all the liquid away as they tried to calm themselves down.

"I honestly thought it would explode." Anju grinned and began massaging her jaws because they were beginning to ache. Never had Anju felt so much better and she hoped it would remain like that for a long time.

Anju had the Cloud ninja's rooms ready just before the sun began to disappear. It had taken a lot of rearranging but somehow she and some of the volunteers had managed to get it done and now they were all glad it was over. The Uchiha decided it was the best time to take a power nap before having to introduce herself formally, which meant probably half an hour of herself and the Raikage trying to resist getting into some ridiculous fight with the giant man or worse try and kill each other. Plus, she had not slept a wink last night and wanted to look kind of normal and not like a zombie she had seen earlier in the reflection of a store window. One the way back to the house, Anju stopped right in front of the hospital, debating with herself on whether she should go and visit her family. In the end she decided against it on the account of two reasons. One was that she didn't want to interrupt any moments that she might interrupt and secondly, if any of them saw her like this, she would have her head chewed off. Power nap first, then I'll go and visit! Anju told herself as she dragged her heavy feet up the porch stairs and into her house. Then she inwardly groaned at the pile of paperwork and preparations she still needed to work on and decided that maybe sleep she wait for just a little while longer.

But the second she stepped into the hallway she knew she wasn't alone. Ninja instinct took over and dragging a kunai from the hidden pouch under her skirts she shifted her way through the rooms. The first room she came to was the living room. She checked every corner, every shadow, every inch of the room until she was satisfied. As she moved on to the next room, her nose picked up the scent of something cooking. Following the trail, she found herself in the kitchen when she found a big man, with dark skin and dark glasses on his eyes, standing near the micro-wave, impatiently watching the food cook. Before he took a chance to realise what was happening, Anju acted, knocking him to the floor and pinning him down as she held the blade to his neck.

"Who. Are. You?" She hissed, unable to control her rage as she pushed the dagger a little too hard against his neck. The man made no attempt to fight back as he held his arms out in surrender.

"Cool it yo!

It's just me

Uncle bee!

Happy to meet

Little Naruto's

Little chick." He smiled back with a big bright smile that reminded Anju of Naruto. The only reaction she could muster was a shocked expression. Anju decided right there and then that she was going to ask Tsunade to give her a check over because she must of bumped her head or something to be hallucinating this badly. What madness had she gotten herself into?

"What the hell!" A sudden cry from the hallway made Anju jump back to her feet with her kunai up and ready. Clang! The sound of metal against tile, as Anju dropped her weapon, suddenly hypothesis by the blue orbs she stared into. She tried to say his name but her tongue froze. When she tried to speak at all nothing came out and she could only just stare. If she was dreaming this was defiantly a cruel dream. The outraged look on the blondes face soon disappeared and was replaced by a look of concern. "Anju? Are you alright?" His voice was soft as he spoke, reaching out towards her as he tried to secure his hand in hers. For some reason she stepped back, afraid to feel his touch, almost as if she was trying to escape some kind of substance addiction, fearing if she got hooked on it then she would go crazy. Her actions seemed to startle the man before her and he stopped in his tracks. After some careful calculation, he brought his arm back. "Anju it's me Naruto. You're not in danger, I'm sorry if Bee scared you." He added, sending a quick glare to Bee who still remained on the floor. She could sense she was trying to explain something but all his words just seemed to bounce off her. The last thing she remembered was Naruto yelling her name before suddenly, the whole world turned black.

When she woke up, she didn't realise where she was at first. It took her a moment to realise she was back in her own bedroom. The only difference to the setting was the additional chair added to the room with a sleeping Naruto sitting in it. He was in fall glory with his mouth wide open and loud snores coming out of his mouth with the occasional mutter of some kind of sentence. Anju couldn't help but laugh at the scene. She wondered how she was able to sleep with all this activity when they slept together or maybe she was just a very (very) heavy sleeper. Suddenly she remembered that this couldn't be real, that she must be dreaming since Naruto was meant to be in some hidden location around the world. It was a weird dream to have of him; secretly she would have preferred something a little smuttier. But she decided to take what she was given at the moment. Grabbing a blanket from the end of the bed she wrapped it around Naruto, admiring him. Wiping away the drool from his mouth, she couldn't help the need to brush her fingers through his blonde locks. However, this movement startled him away. He jumped to his feet, a rasengan in his hand, prepared to fight off his enemy. He calmed instantly when he saw a stunned Anju.

"Anju…" The spikey blonde called out in shock, unable to find any other words to say. But he didn't need to say anymore. The Uchiha was suddenly overwhelmed with animal instinct and grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled him towards her, until his lips touched hers. His arms surrounded her and pulled her body towards him, pressing firmly against his warm skin. Soon they were on the bed and Anju was happy to think she was getting her sexy dream after all.

She woke up again to find muscular, warm arms around her body. I'm still dreaming! Anju thought, mentally throwing a fist punch into the air as she turned around and snuggled further into her lovers embrace. She never wanted this paradise to end and was determined not to let it go so soon. Even when she stirred he did not wake. Even though it was a dream to her she could not bear to wake him from his slumber. Still in her dreams she sensed she had to finish reading the diary. Kami! Why do my dreams have to be weird? Anju complained and decided just to go along with it.

_Dear Diary,_

_I write this in great haste as I hope to leave this behind and allow someone to read one day, to know the truth of what the Uchiha Clan is really like. It was the moment my water broke that everything began to make sense. I must have been screaming like a banshee for at least a good half an hour before a group of cloaked figures came in, tied me to a stretcher and carried me to some place. They led me somewhere deeper into the grounds. Finally, they led me into some kind of tomb that I have ever seen before and standing right beside the huge stone of my bed was my father. His face was completely emotionless as I was strapped to the giant rock. I was in labour for eighteen hours. All the while a small group of Uchiha's I recognised did stupid hums like they were performing some kind of ritual. Then she was born. My beautiful baby girl; Hope. I looked right at her and she at me. At that moment I knew we would be connected forever, she knew who I was I and knew who she was. But when the midwife placed her into the arms of her grandfather my heart stopped. He didn't even look at her as he took her away. I demanded that he gave her to me even if it drained all my strength. His only reply was that half-breeds could not exist in the blood line. I went cold to the bone. How did he know? Was all I could think about._

_Even though I was tired and in great pain, I forced myself up to try and see where he was taking her. I had to activate my Sharingan to see through the darkness. Every cell in my body went cold when I saw the hole in the ground and every step he took closer made rage boil inside me. Now I was pissed. Adrenaline must have been pumping ten times the normal amount through my blood stream as I somehow managed to rip through my restraining bonds. Everything about me just became pure animal instinct and I ripped apart anyone who got in my way as I raced towards Madara, prepared to rip his throat out. I'm not sure what happened after that. All I remember is seeing red. Then next thing I knew I was watching the entrance of the tomb being caved in with my father on the other side. Right now I'm in my old room, grabbing everything I need. Hope is sleeping at the moment like nothing has happened. I don't know how but I have to find some place to hide, even though I am exhausted. I still cannot understand what it was all about and why my father distress half breeds. All that I know is that we have a chance and that Hope is safe. _

_I have already contacted some travelling friends who will sneak me past the fire nation border and across the mountains. Not much is known about what is over the other side apart from some small towns. There I hope to journey further east and disappear forever. I must be careful though, rumour has it that there are many travelling clans who work across there and some of them don't even seem human. I leave this under one of the loose floorboards of my bed. I hate to in thrust this knowledge on to a poor victim of my blood line but I can only hope that the future Uchiha have a much more kinder nature and that someone will make things right. _

Anju stared at the large page for what seemed like hundreds of years. It must have been shock or something because she had an urge just to do something. Cleaning and dressing herself, the Uchiha paced around the room, trying to make sense of what was happening. Suddenly, anger burst inside her and with all her might, Anju threw the book at the wall, causing a dent to form in the wall paper. Jumping off the bed she leapt out of the bedroom window (she didn't want to face anyone right now) and ran to Itachi's prison house.

The guards surrounding the outside didn't dare stop her as she marched right passed them and kicked the front door down. Right now she didn't care about what she destroyed. All she wanted was to take her anger out on something and at the moment it seemed to be directed at Itachi Uchiha. She found him in the same seat she had seen him last, looking into the fire place, his blind gaze seeing something that seemed not to exist in this world. He only seemed to recognise her presence when Anju was standing over him.

"Why did you make me read that diary? Why didn't you just tell me that the Uchiha's hated half breeds? Hated people like me!" She yelled, unable to control the wave of emotions that flowed from her body. Itachi sat in his chair, he hadn't even flinched from his seat. He remained quiet which just seemed to annoy Anju even more. "Don't give me the silent treatment! We had a deal I read the diary, you give me some answers!" Anju snapped, poking him hard in the chest. With lightening reflexes, Itachi's hand lashed out like a snake and wrapped his hand tightly around her wrist.

"Calm down Anju." Itachi said, his voice soft like lambs wool. It shocked the half Uchiha to hear him speak like this but she refused to let him just shake her off the subject.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Anju shouted and tried to pull her arm back but her hand remain trapped in his iron grasp.

"I needed you to understand I wanted to show that not all Uchiha's were like them that it's not everyone's fault." Itachi gasped, as his weak voice cried desperately to be heard. "I not only wanted for you to see the truth but I wanted to show where your origins came from." At the word 'origins' Anju anger seemed to appear all at once and was now replaced with confusion.

"What?" She questioned.

"This is why I gave you this." Itachi whispered and slipped the silver necklace back into her hand. Anju had thought she had lost it, she had now remembered that she had thrown it at Itachi in anger months ago. "To help identify who you were when I lost my sight, so I could help you."

"Help me with what!" Anju demanded growing angrier by the second. Just as the rogue ninja was about to answer, the sounds of shouting from outside echoed from the distance. By the way it managed to echo all over the place with booming anger and enthusiasm it could only belong to Naruto.

"I'm sorry Anju, this will have to wait." Itachi apologising. If Anju had been paying more attention, she would have noticed his free hand performing hand signs. But it was already too late as her eyes lay onto the hand making a tiger sign and grabbed her around the neck. Wrestling with his grip she tried to free herself but there was something this that was different. Her body burn as energy flowed through her, this new source fighting with her own charka system until suddenly, they seemed to fuse together.


	35. THE MARK

**The Mark**

Anju was beginning to understand why so many shinobi hated hospitals. Waking up, Anju found herself in a plain white room that she recognised as one of the hospital rooms. Something about her felt weird. It was like she was feeling two things at once. Tired and awake, hungry and fall; happy and sad, it was all too much and was causing a major headache. I'm going to kill Itachi when I see him! She cursed in her head. To make things worse her neck felt itchy and no matter how much she tried to ignore it grew worse. Unable to resist the huge urge she began scratching her skin, feeling a little better. But as the door creaked open, Anju ripped her hand away so no one could see, only for the itch to grow worse. A flash of pink entered the room, even with the clip board in from of her face; you could clearly see it was Sakura. The medic was so absorbed in her forms that she never realised that her friend was awake until she reached the bed.

"Nice to see you too." Anju moaned, annoyed that she was being ignored like this. Sakura's whole body went ridged and slowly, the head looked up from its reviews and green eyes landed on the woman sitting on the hospital bed. The next thing the Uchiha was aware of was being hugged to death but a skinny woman with inhuman strength that was carrying a baby that must weigh a couple of pounds by now. "Sakura… Can't b… breath." She managed to gasp when the universe was merciful to allow a little bit of room for her wind pipe not to be completely crushed.

"Oh sorry." Sakura apologised, pushing the long bangs of hair out of her eyes and beamed. She was practically glowing right there on the spot; pregnancy looked good on her. Tadashi must have been thrilled.

"How's Tadashi?" Anju commented, suddenly remembered her brothers last known condition.

"He's very well! Back in perfect shape and working overtime to catch up with work." She shrugged but a smile of contempt stayed on her face. A sigh of relief escaped her chest, Anju was happy to hear her brother was okay. "Naruto will be happy to see you awake." The medic added and this new piece of news made the Uchiha sit up a little straighter.

"Naruto! He's here!" Anju cried out excitedly and jumped on to her feet, hoping to see him but was restrained but the medic.

"Wait a second!" Sakura cried out with a firm grip on her friends shoulder. "It's not safe for you to be up and about, your charka mix hasn't completed…"

"My what!" The patient demanded, wanting to find Naruto and the itch on her neck wasn't helping her mood. As if to answer the question, the pink haired woman picked up a mirror and held it in front of her. At first, Anju saw nothing of any interest; until she looked down at her throat. Black ink now marked her pale skin, curves and straight lines joined together to make strange patterns and pictures that made no sense to her. Now she was defiantly going to kill Itachi! She had asked for answers not a cheap tattoo; at least it kind of looked pretty. But the question now was, why was there? What had that rogue ninja done?

Why didn't I have him burned or jailed like any normal person would do? Anju cursed herself as she sat on her bed an hour later still examining the weird marks left around her neck. Sakura had said it should disappear in another month or two which the Uchiha was glad to hear but the problem was it would still be there; but invisible. She didn't know what was worse, waking up seeing it every day or knowing it's there but not being able to keep an eye on it. Frustrated, Anju began itching at her neck, the ink prickled at her skin still. Placing the mirror on the bedside table and tried to focus her mind with other thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not busy her thoughts and soon found her fingers curling around the handle of the mirror and looking at the artwork again. From diary to seals, Itachi seemed to be nothing but to obsess over the secrets that the former Akasuki member had. I need to get a life! Anju told herself forcefully but still her weird and wacky self-refused to see reason and soon found herself staring at the marks again. Finally, annoyed with herself, she through the mirror cross the room, hearing it break into a million pieces somewhere and buried her head beneath the pillows. The door opened and once again Anju cursed her actions, she wanted to be left alone.

"Go away." She muffled loudly into her pillow but it work to no avail as she heard the footsteps approach. She was surprised next when she felt a familiar mouth kiss the side of her cheek. Jumping to a sitting position, Anju wrapped her arms around him and clung on to him for dear life. Never again did she want him to leave; never. But she knew such a request would ever be granted to her so she settle to living every moment with him. "Tell me this is real and not some stupid dream." The Uchiha begged, feeling on the urge of tears bubbling in her eyes. Naruto laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm not now and I haven't been since you fainted in front of Bee." He sniggered and Anju suddenly went ridged. As if I didn't feel like an idiot already! She moaned inwardly to herself but despite that she couldn't help but laugh. Honestly, she felt too happy to being with her lover to care much at the moment. Reaching up, she grabbed his lips and kissed him hard on the lips. Naruto responded instantly and soon he was pushing her back on to the bed. "Oh Kami! I missed you." He breathed heavily into her ear as her began kissing along her jaw line and down her neck. But as Naruto reached the base of her neck, something painfully sharp suddenly stabbed Anju in the neck. She gasped in agony and shoved her boyfriend off. Jerking upright, she clutched at her neck; it hurt a lot. Gently, Naruto moved her hand away so he could examine what might have hurt her and stopped dead. The tattoo on her neck was alight, it looked like the black ink had turned into fire.

"Grandma Tsunade!" Naruto yelled, as Anju just sat there in pure horror.

It was weird being in this situation. Almost as if the whole scene was like some kind of face off. Anju told herself not to be stupid. Itachi had finally agreed to tell her everything she wanted to know but for her ears only. The mark he had left on her neck was beginning to fade slowly but it still itched a lot. Exhaling, the woman let a deep sigh and continued to stare out the window. This one allowed her to see the back garden and was fascinated by the way the flowers that had installed earlier of the reconstruction had somehow thrived, despite the cold winter months. The wilderness had no one to tame it and the plants were left to run wild over other parts of the garden. At the moment, she was busying her time by debating with herself on whether she should get someone to come in and trim or just leave it as it is. She had just decided to leave it when the door opened and Itachi was escorted in by a member of the nursing staff and took shinobi's watching him intently. After he was settled into one of the chairs, she shooed them away, glad to see that the two men were respecting her request and left to guard the outside of the door. Itachi was the first to talk.

"I see Naruto is still in a bad mood with me." He mused to himself, the tired features of his face suddenly enlighten by a small smile. Knucklehead! Anju secretly cursed to herself, a word she had recently learned from Sakura. Right now, she could just imagine the blonde pacing back and forth in the hall way, his ears alert. Despite the fact that she told him not to worry he still insisted on waiting outside. But in all fairness she couldn't blame him. Look at what happened last time she had been left in a room along with him.

"Naruto doesn't keep grudges." Anju argued, regardless of telling herself earlier that she was just going to keep the conversation short and sweet. "He just worries too much about the people he cares about."

"Understandable." The rogue ninja replied formally. Then came the silence. Both of them seemed to be debating whether they should start or allow the other to speak first.

"Did they kill the babies just because they were half breeds?" Anju suddenly spoke, shattering the glass barrier between them.

"Yes, along with those born with deformities." He added coolly, as if something like that was normal. She guess being a part of ANBU and the Akasuki does change a person. Another silence followed.

"And even though it's a wild long shot, I could be a descendent of Eri." And Madara, Anju thought inside but didn't want to admit it out loud; ever. It made her blood turn cold just thinking about it. The rogue seemed to take a hint and just nodded in reply.

"So what is this all about?" Anju demanded, moving the collar of her dress so she could see some of the mark.

"It's a seal I created that implants all my techniques and my charka into you." Again the room is silent as Anju digested the information. It all seemed surreal to her, once again her mark started to itch violently. Why? The thought wondered in her mind but she did not think she was ready to ask it. On the other hand, Itachi did. "Sasuke grows more powerful by the day, you'll need all the help you can get. I fear they have something special planned for you." The last note was said with a quiver in his throat.

"What plans?" Anju asked, hiding her hands under the sleeves of her dress, so that she could not see her own shaking hands.

"I don't know." Was his reply.

It wasn't until a few days later that Anju realised that Tadashi was purposely avoiding her. Every time she tried to hang out with him he was always busy with work, which was understandable since the hospital had become quite full recently but now his shifts were working endlessly into the night, just so he didn't have to have dinner with her. So the Uchiha decided to tackle him in his most vulnerable position. Sakura was more than happy to lend a spare key for the back door as she snuck in one early morning, waving to her friend as the pink medic made breakfast and snuck up stairs. Anju had to supress endless waves of shivers, covering her mouth as she tried to hold back her laughter. Tadashi singing in the shower; why didn't she bring a video camera? He had a lovely baritone voice but that didn't make the girl hesitate. Tip toeing into the bathroom, she got a solid grip around the curtain and yanked it aside.

"Hey bro!" Anju beamed, whistled Tadashi jumped to the side and wrestled the curtain away from her.

"Anju! What are you doing?" He snapped, trying to look angry while he was still trying to cover himself up and stop his face blushing. All the Uchiha could do was roll her eyes in response; it wasn't like she hadn't seen a naked men before.

"Sakura just wanted me to tell you that breakfast was ready and to be down in five otherwise she'll kick your ass." Anju beamed back at him and happily skipped back down stairs to find that her friend had gone and had left a note in her place. The pink haired medic had been kind enough to leave some pancakes left for them and some freshly cut fruit. Making herself comfortable, the woman instantly dug into the food, piling layers of carbs, three different kinds of berries and honey onto her plate. Usually she wouldn't eat so much but ever since Naruto had come back that woman felt the constant need to replenish her energy; not to mention that one scary imagine in the mirror she had looked at and saw that she had lost too much weight.

Five minutes later, Anju heard the creaking of the staircase and soon enough her brother appeared fully dressed, using a towel to get rid of the access water from his hair. As soon as he entered the kitchen he seemed a bit confused to not find his girlfriend in the room. He looked right, then left, then straight at her.

"That was cruel." He stared at her but a smile still played on his lips. He wasn't angry about the whole shower scene, Hansuke had done worse things. But even Anju agreed that lying about threats from Sakura was low even for her. Nevertheless, the little sister just beamed back at her older brother and patted the seat next to her. Surrendering to the nosy growl of his stomach, Tadashi accepted her invitation without resistance and helped himself to the identical combination of her breakfast, only his had fewer layers. They talked for a while about the usual stuff like they used to do but Anju could not help but sense that he was acting guarded around her; which was very unusual. She had heard that he had been acting a little strangely after being rescued from Madara and that the only two people he talked to about the incident had been Tsunade and Ibiki. Now that she thought about it, did the Hokage's worried expression have everything to do with the information they shared. It could all just be a coincidence, since the Hokage had a million things to be worried about. If Ibiki was here, it would add up her conclusions. The one thing she hated about her brother was that he seemed to have a sixth sense. Just as Anju was about to ask him what was happening before he interrupting her.

"I can't tell you anything, Hokage has ordered S class on this." He stared at her before tucking back into breakfast. All Anju was shot him an annoyed look.

Even though she had a serious amount of work to do, Anju somehow managed to convince herself to skip the paper work for the day and watch Naruto train. She was excited to see how much his skills had advance since the last time she saw him and wondered if he actually had fall control over the nine tails like everyone else. Sitting on a branch next to Yamato (who was there encase of an emergency) the two watch, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Bee set up the training ground for Naruto, who stood below her performing a warm up. Since Yamato wasn't in a talkative mood, Anju used the few spare moments to herself, she admired the toned muscles of her lovers back. He must have felt her staring because he turned to look at her and winked, sensing her devious thoughts. Embarrassed, the Uchiha looked away with her cheeks burning bright red. She heard him laugh and cursed herself for acting like a silly teenager. She was saved from any further embarrassment when Kakashi called Naruto over to begin.

"Naruto has sure come a long way since I first saw him." Yamato smiled, speaking for the first time since his arrival apart from the small greetings.

"I know, just as I think he can't get any more powerful, he does something else!" Anju replied, buzzing with excitement, as she waited. The three older men gave instructions on what the jinchuuriki needed to do. With the help of her sharingan, the Uchiha understood that the tasks her had to preform were charka control excises, similar to tree walking. But this time he had to lift blocks gently one on top of the other without knocking the tower down. Naruto pouted as he was disappointed that he couldn't fight anyone yet but then seemed to take the new challenge into a new light. Bee was the only one who stayed near him, as his control over the eight tails was the only thing that could stop the Kyuubi from getting out of control. The two other men dropped back to where she sat, standing in the same place where the blonde had been standing a few moments ago. After a quick prep talk from Bee, Naruto was ready to get started. Charka blazed around him in a magnificent yellow light. Anju gasped, as she tried to with stand the density of the power that flowed off him in waves. The shinobi's first attempts of piling the large bricks were a complete failure as he either used too little which could not pick up the rocks or too much which seemed to just throw the boulders into the air. Nevertheless, the energetic youth persisted and soon found himself slowly placing one block on top of the other. By the end of training, Naruto was able to use at least over three quarters of the material before the tower lost balance and fell over.

"Argh! I was so close that time!" Naruto whined loudly staring at all the rocks as if he was hoping that lasers would shot out of his eyes and blow it up. Where does all this energy come from? Anju thought to herself. She had just witnessed probably half of the strength of the Konohagakure army and yet this limited amount of power was still coming.

"Okay Naruto I think that's enough for the day." Kakashi's monotone voice was muffled by the sound of his book in front of his face.

"Oh come on Kakashi sensei!" Naruto pleaded like a five year old. Anju couldn't help but laugh at his childishness, if Sakura had been hear she would have whipped her friend back into shape. But the sudden movement in the shadows caught her attention and instantly activated her sharingan. With her vision now intensified she could make out the slight figure of a person hidden among the trees. Tapping Yamato on the shoulder, she indicated to what she was looking at. Even with the sharingan the wood user was able to see what she saw. Leaving the rest of the group to bicker with Naruto, they spilt up. Keeping to the cover of the trees as they snuck up behind. Yamato acted first, pulling branches for a nearby tree to trap his legs, while Anju used acted from above and used three wires to secure his hands and his neck, pulling him up slightly so he was unable to perform any jutsu's, while at the same time lessoning the flow of oxygen through his body. The shinobi was completely immobilised. Turns out it was one of the white clones.

"Bastard." Anju hissed, spitting in his face. She was getting fed up with this. Soon an ANBU unit arrived and took him away for questioning, hoping to secure details of Madara plans. Everyone was beginning to get restless with his sudden quietness. They were all desperate to know when this nightmare would end.


	36. AFTER SIX MONTHS OF SILENCE

**After Six months of Silence**

"Push Sakura!" Tsunade ordered her prodigy. Sakura tried again to do as she was told but was finding the labours of birth difficult. Tadashi was right beside her, doing his best to comfort her and ignoring the fact that she had just broken three of his fingers. Ino and Anju were working as well, running between trying to help the Hokage and to calm a raging Sakura, who was not in the best of moods. The Hokage had demanded nothing but the best for the young girl, as everyone knew she saw the pink haired woman as her daughter. Shizune was supposed to be here but she got ordered away for an emergency recon mission which required her specialities. They had thought she would be back in time. But then Sakura's water broke three weeks early. At the moment, it seemed like the baby couldn't make its mind up if it wanted to come out or not. Instead of blaming all the pain on the baby, Sakura had decided to pick a much easier target.

"This is all your fault!" Sakura snapped and hit the future father of her child hard on the chest. Tadashi muffled the cry of pain the best he could and tried to ignore the continuous insults that came from her foul tongue. "You fucking bastard!" She cried before slamming her head against the pillow and screamed in pained. No one could really blame her since she had spent nearly over thirty hours in labour.

"Come on Sakura!" Tsunade commanded her. Somehow, Sakura managed to muster up the strength to push harder then she had before. The room suddenly went silent. Smack! The baby began to cry and as its screaming notes flew into the air, everyone let out a sigh of great relief. "It's a girl." The Hokage smiled warmly, wrapping the small babe into a pink towel and handed the baby over to its mother. Gently, the new mother took the child into her arms, with Tadashi helping to cradle the babe for extra support. Seeing the small baby made tears of happiness swell into her eyes as she rocked the baby, soon followed by a triumphant laugh.

"Isn't she beautiful Tadashi." Sakura whispered, looking lovely up at her husband. The new father hadn't even notice she had talked to her at first as he was mesmerised by the tiny infant. Ino and Anju looked at each other with a knowing look. Secretly, they both knew that the kid was going to have her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

"She is!" He finally answered, his eyes shone with pride as he kissed his lover on the forehead.

Later on the room was crowded by people desperate to see the new baby. They named the little baby Tsunade and despite the older woman's appearance to hold up the authortive figure of Hokage, the old woman cried with joy and was now stepping into the role as grandmother for the small babe. Kakashi was there because Sakura threaten to break every bone in his body if he didn't come and see his godchild. Looking out of the corner of her eye, Anju could see that the silver haired man was stuck between admiring the small bundle and itching to read his Icha Icha book. She knew he would never dare, especially with Ino and Tsunade keeping an eye on him. But the worse of all was Naruto, as soon as he held the little girl in his hands, he fell in love with her. Already he had the first five years of her life planned out for her, every trip, birthday and Christmas planned out.

"Give us a chance Naruto, we are her parents after all." Tadashi joked and everyone else in the room laughed. The hyperactive blonde just made a face at him before handing him over to Anju. From what she could tell so far, was that the baby had her brother's dark hair and ivory skin but everything else belonged to the mother; including the slightly large forehead. Anju spent a few moments admiring her niece, coo her and telling her how she would be spoiled rotten not just by her but everyone else.

"Okay everyone. Time to go. New mum needs to rest." Tsunade shouted, taking charge of the situation. Regrettably, Anju handed the small person back to her older brother and wished them both the best. Hand in hand, Anju and Naruto walked down the village streets, just as the towns people were cleaning up their stalls and shops as they finished today's business. Some of the villagers who weren't busy greeted them as they went passed; some even went so far as to bow to them, possibly as a way of covering up their guilt for earlier judgements.

"Do you want kids?" The future Hokage suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Huh?" She replied, taking back by the sudden question. Their relationship had always been close, they never shared any secrets from each other and talked about almost everything; except marriage and babies. Anju believed they were still too new in their relationship to begin talking about babies and marriage. "Well… err, I don' know I never really thought about it much." She answered quickly, ignoring the terrible thoughts that flew through her head.

"Fair enough." He blonde smiled, though Anju sensed that he could feel her doubts.

For the next few weeks little Tsunade was the highlight of the compound. Everyone would stop to admire the little bundle when Tadashi and Sakura would take her out for a stroll. She was the perfect child, she didn't cry much and she was always giggling. The Hokage and Naruto stayed true to their world and spoiled the child rotten, it got so bad at one point that they actually argued over who got to babysitter. Surprisingly, Kakashi was also very good but he would only do it for short periods of time as he claimed to be a 'busy' man. But every day that went by turned colder for Anju. Every time she saw her lover and little niece together she felt like she was being pushed apart. It wasn't jealously. Naruto still loved her the same amount and the Uchiha loved her brothers daughter just as much as everyone else. But it was that consisted reminder that this was what Naruto wanted; a family of his own. Anju wasn't sure she could give it to him.

Anju hated to admit it but these jutsu's and knowledge that Itachi passed on to her were actually quite useful. She didn't need Kakashi's help anymore learning the Uchiha's jutsu's. In fact she was now teaching him one or two things, after witnessing one of the new jutsu she decided to try out months ago. Kakashi called it payment for his training and she could only laugh at his attempts to do its jutsu. It was strange watching him learn a new jutsu. Truthfully, he was just as bad as Naruto (maybe even worse) when it came to perfecting techniques. Though he never got as frustrated as his student. Sitting in the shade of the tree, she watched as Kakashi made another attempt to try the genjutsu on her, his sharingan blazing. He almost had it that time but at the last minute, his charka level sharply fell and could not complete the course of the jutsu.

"I think you've used too much charka!" Anju tried to warn him but the jonin wouldn't listen. Instead he tried again, only to end up collapsing. Anju was not going to be happy explaining this to Sakura.

"Are we done yet?" Anju moaned as the medic took another sample of blood. This had all happened so fast that Anju hadn't had enough time to take in what was happening. She had only come to the hospital to drop off Kakashi but her best friend seemed to have other ideas. It turned out that the Uchiha was late behind her physical and Sakura insisted that both of them had it done now before they tried to escape with some 'lame' excuse. The silver head man went first, since he was conscious and the pink haired girl insisted that what he didn't know wouldn't harm him. After that, Anju had been led to a private room for her own examination.

"Anju! You should know the rules better than anyone." Sakura told her off, as she placed the samples in a separate box to be examined later. "After all you're the one that designed the rules." She insisted, leaving the Uchiha to grumble about the policies. Ignoring the girl's complaints, Haruno got on with her work, picking up the clipboard and a pen.

"Have you been sick in the last six months?"

"No."

"Have you been on any extreme diets?"

"No."

"Have you suffered any pains?"

"No."

"Have you been sexually active in the last six months?"

"Yes."

"How's Naruto in bed?"

"Amazing…. Hey!" Anju outraged, threw the first thing she could get her hands on. Sakura dodged the object easily.

"Well you never tell me any details so I have to trick you." Sakura spoke up in her own defence, making a funny face at the Uchiha. "Besides, I always tell you about my life and Ino about hers."

"Oh yes! Because I really want to hear about all the dirty tricks you and my brother get up to." Anju answered sarcastically, making a gagging noise at the very thought of it. Though she had to admit, not matter what she heard from Sakura, some of the stuff Ino got up to was both impressive and slightly terrifying. As the medic tried to press her for more details, Anju dressed and signed in the forms, not bowing down to her friends endless threats.

"Oh come on! Give me something!" Sakura whined. The Uchiha stood in the door frame and thought to herself.

"Do you remember that big scandal two months ago of the couple doing it in the Hokage's office while she was having a meeting in the room above and she couldn't work in there for weeks because the sounds of their love making haunted her?" Anju asked and after a while of thinking Sakura replied with a confused nod. "Well, I'll let you figure out." With a knowing wink, she left the medic to stand frozen in shock.

No one attempted to get close to the Uchiha as she came storming out of the Hokage tower, her eyes narrow and dark that if she looked at you it was possible lasers would come shooting out of her eyes. People moved like Moses spreading the waves of the red sea away when they saw her coming; it was like this all the way back to the Uchiha compound. It wasn't until she was in the safety of her own home that she let out a frustrated scream. I HATE Danzo! I hate him so much! Anju thoughts rambled over and over again. All that man ever did was cause trouble and looked for any opportunity to prove her wrong. Thankfully, no one else was in the house, so was able to take some stress out on Naruto's training dummy. It was one of the many items that seemed to be creeping into her house recently, along with some extra clothes, random kunai's on the floor and stacks of instant ramen cups stashed inside her cupboards. Stuffing was begging to burst out of the dummies head when Konohagakure's number one knucklehead ninja decided to come in.

"Whoa! Leave the dummy alone!" Naruto squealed like a child that had just witnessed his favourite toy being torn to pieces. Feeling a little calmer and now actually looking at it, she could see the training dummy looked a lot like… Kakashi? "Meeting didn't go well I take it." Naruto inquired, placing the stuffed doll back into the corner.

"What gave you that impression?" She huffed, holding her arms defensively in front of her chest.

"Seeing you beat the shit out of my dummy was kind of a big clue." He laughed but it did not do anything to defuse the situation. In fact, it just seemed to make everything worse. Maybe he should of let her have a few more minutes with the toy, just to make sure her clenching fists didn't punch him. "Look! Don't let Danzo get to you." He tried to sooth her but it didn't help much.

"I can't exactly ignore him Naruto." Anju snapped back, her knuckles so tight that they were white. Now the blonde really wished he had just let her keep the doll.

The next morning, an emergency meeting was called for all jonin and chunin levelled shinobi to attend. The Hokage, Raikage and Kazkage had finally received news from the other kages and had finally put a plan into action. They had received information about Madara's whereabouts and had decided to take the fight to them. Thought movement in the area had notified that the enemy was preparing for the same thing. Everyone was being informed on who the diversion leaders were plus the new uniforms being issued. Anju stared at hers in wonder. It was the usual plain Konohagakure design, though some ninja's like the mist had a few of the own additional equipment for their own techniques. The new headbands said shinobi on the front, everyone had the same, to give a sense of unity among the soldiers; though tension could still be felt among some of them.

"Couldn't they put a bit of orange in it." Her boyfriend grumbled beside her as he checked everything. Annoyed, Anju slammed her elbow into his side gently. "Ow!"

"Be quite Naruto!" Sakura hissed beside him and slapped him on the head. The Uchiha was trying hard to suppress her giggling, as they were beginning to make a scene. Thankfully, they were saved by the Raikage.

"Ladies and gentlemen." The kage boomed across the room, making everyone freeze and divert their attention to him. "No longer will we sit here and wait. From now on we are taking the fight the enemy." The room suddenly keep alive, as waves of defaming roars echoed among the shinobi. This was an historical moment. This was war.


	37. FINAL PREPARATIONS

**Final Preparations **

Jin and Hansuke didn't care that they were still recovering, they said they were coming. Gai tried to plead with Jin until she threatened to cut off the sex; poor Gai was placed in a difficult position. Shadow took her mistresses side and began nipping at peoples ankles whenever they brought the subject up. It didn't last long though, the Hokage put a stop to it, saying that at least needed some shinobi to stay behind and protect the fire borders orders. Jin understood the Hokages decision; didn't mean she was happy with it. Before long, over half of the villages force found themselves pack and marching on to their new campsite in the land of lightening.

Most of the shinobi army travelled to Kumogakure, on the east coast of the Land of Lightening. Here the alliance base was created, holding and army of over eighty thousand soldiers, among them shinobi and samurai alike. Anju was in her room, sharping her katana. Tadashi had been on at her to make sure it was in top shape. Which she agreed but in all honesty, the only reason she was doing it was to ignore Naruto's constant pacing. The man didn't do well trapped indoors all the time. He wore a full shinobi uniform but he firmly stuck with wearing his orange jacket. It was his lucky colour after all. If he didn't stop soon, Anju was sure that her katana was about to be tested out.

"Naruto! Will you cut it out?" Anju sighed, sparks flying as metal grazed against metal. The man stopped for a few seconds and sat on the other bed but was soon back on his feet again. Just as the Uchiha was considering to knock him out, her weapon suddenly disappeared and found him on top of her. "I can work with this as well." She mused, as her lover bit and sucked at her neck, while ripping off her trousers at the same time. Adjusting themselves, Naruto hands gripped her around the thighs and pulled her legs apart, bracing himself over. But a sudden cough made both of them jump apart, Anju quickly pulling the covers over herself, as her trousers had disappeared. The door was wide open with Jirayia standing in the doorway.

"Hate to interrupt you two but third diversion meeting in the conference room." He smirked, before strolling off. Once he was gone, Anju scrambled on to the floor and hastily jumped back into her clothes as she raced to the meeting. Quickly remembering something, she skidded to a halt and ran back to her room, taking Naruto by surprised as she tackled him and gave him a wet kiss.

"We'll finish this later." She smiled slyly, before disappearing again.

The idea of bringing a baby to an army outlet was absolutely outrageous. So you can imagine everyone's surprise when Sakura and Tadashi argued over sitter duties. In all fairness they didn't really have much of a choice. Everyone they knew was a shinobi, so the idea of leaving their baby behind with strangers was not a happy idea for the parents. Not to mention some of the horror stories Naruto had told his friends about the orphanage was a major no! Lucky for them they were both placed in the medical unit, so no major activity was involve. Little Tsunade was carried around in a backpack all the time with her parents, only when both of them were in surgery did someone else have to look after the child. As expected, a lot of shinobi were not happy about this. Some even tried to make it difficult for the couple by constantly harassing them. A mist ninja even went so far as to threaten little Tsunade. Three major pieces of information were discovered when this event happened. One was that Kakashi was very protective of his goddaughter, second was that Sai had a very soft spot for children and finally, Tsunade had suddenly become best friends with the Mizukage. This all led to the mist nin appearing in hospital with serve injuries with the Rain leader writing the incident off as a training incident. But the indecency didn't stop there, it just made people careful. It was proven today in the third diversion meeting, while Kakashi was going over the area, diversion three would be stationed and how to use the environment to their advantage. Sakura sat next to her, gently rocking Tsunade so the baby would stay asleep. It worked for a while but then the baby got hungry. Just as the copy-nin was explaining ground teams tactics, little Tsunade started screaming for her milk.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you the rest later." Anju whispered to the medic. Sending everyone an apologetic look, Sakura got to her feet and began shuffling through the rows of shinobi. A lot of people stared at the medic as she shuffled out of the room. Anju eyes blazed alight as she stared them all down. Even now the reputation of the sharingan lived up to its highest standards. After the meeting, Anju went in search for her friend, eventually finding Sakura hiding in one of the female stools, with a blanket over her front.

"She's really hungry today." The pink haired smiled as she readjusted herself.

"Still won't take the bottle." The Uchiha tried to sympathised, as the mother finished herself off and cleaned herself up.

"It's the only time she seems to really like me." Sakura shrugged, handing the baby over to the aunt so she could put her top back on. Surprisingly, the medic had made it back into perfect shape a few days before the announcement, thanks to a lot of aggressive training from Kakashi and Tsunade. Just as Sakura had finished adjusting herself, two kunochi's came in speaking in low voices. They froze as soon as they saw Anju, holding a baby in her arms.

"Eeerrr… hi." Anju grinned nervously, unable to wave with the bundle in her arms.

"Look Ning! Isn't she cute?" The blonde with the bob squealed and clapped her hands together excitedly. The other woman just rolled her eyes and remained unmoved. "Oh I can hold her please." She begged, full lips trembling into a puppy pout. The Uchiha looked over at Sakura for support, who was still hidden in the toilet cubical. Finally stepping out, Sakura did a check on the girl. Her head bobbed up and down as she gave the girl a look over; it was like Sakura was getting a full background check on the ninja in less than a second. When she was done, the mother gave the go ahead and Little Tsunade was passed over to her. "Hey cutie!" She smiled, rocking the baby.

"I wish I brought my kid." The woman named Ning suddenly spoke out.

"Why didn't you?" The medic inquired.

"Damn husband insisted leaving him with his crazy mother." Ning muttered, clearly cursing the old bat inside her head from the face expression she was showing. It was then that Anju found herself stuck in a conversation of midnight feeds and the types of new born diapers you can get.

"Shouldn't we investigate? It is our area after all." Anju protested halfway through the meeting. News had just come in that Anko and her recon team had disappeared off radar for a few hours. No one had been worried at first but the team was supposed to report in every few hours; it had nearly been twenty four hours. Looking up from the map, the copy-nin shook his head.

"Hokage's already sent a search team out for them, we're just here to go over and give them any additional information that could be useful." Kakashi stated, his emotions invisible behind the mask. Clamping her mouth shut, Anju bit back the frustration that threatened to erupt. She hated just sitting here doing nothing, Anju hated to admit it but she was beginning to feel sympathy towards her boyfriend and his behaviour lately. Everyone could feel the waves of battle coming. Their hairs stood on ends as they anticipated a dispatch any second. Waiting was driving everyone nuts. They just wanted the madness to come so they could dispose of it but then they would just panic that the final touches to jutsu's were not finishes and plans kept changing. One moment the Jinchuriki's were allowed to fight and the next they were going to be stashed away somewhere. No one could decide what to do with them. If everyone even mentioned a slight hit that the tail beast containers might be held back from battle Naruto would go into a fit of rage. He argued that this war was because of him and Bee, why should they stand aside and watch their loved ones die? It was a good point. But the Raikage's opinion was also hard to debate against. If Madara got hold of the last two tail beasts then it was game over. The disappearing recon team was pushing the soldiers closer to the edge.

"What about the caves? It's close to where the group was meant to be investigating and it's a good place to set up a hideout or a trap!" A cloud ninja suggested, drawing his finger across the line, where grey triangles lined the map. Kakashi looked at it closely, estimating time, average speed and travelling distance of Anko's group.

"It's possible." The diversion leader muttered, his own finger circling the mountainous regime, putting together a few loose ends to his conclusion. "Get the information over to the intelligence centre, pass it on." He ordered a young chunin standing next to him. The shinobi wasted no time and flashed away. For a while, they went over the map again, looking for anything they might of missed the first few thousand times. But with no one coming up with any other ideas, the meeting came to a close. Irritated, Anju felt like taking Sakura's way of life and punch through a wall. Instead, she came across Naruto. He kissed her hard on the lips, feeling tension role off him in waves. Reprogramming her system, the Uchiha turned her frustration into something more efficient, as he pushed her into his room. This time they remembered to lock the door.

Later, the roars of the bellies sent them in search of food. The dining complex set up for them was probably bigger than the inside of Hokage Mountain. It was meant to hold over eighty thousand soldiers but even just half the number in the room it looked over crowded; maybe the architect had misjudged his accuracy. Thankfully, the shining beacon of pink and silver hair sitting close to one another was enough to guide the too to their friends table.

"Hey guys!" Naruto beamed, sliding next to Sakura, disappointed to find his favourite niece was with Tadashi having a nap. Anju sat opposite him, trying to ignore the knowing look that came out of Ino's eyes. Over half of the rookie nine sat with them, all of team Kurenai (minus Kurenai) and Ino, beinging the only team ten member. Tenten and Sai were also present, it was probably the only time they would come to see each other as a full group. Kakashi and Jirayia were their too, as usual the copy nin was reading his book and the pervy sage seemed to be busy writing a new one. The Sage took a quick break to give his student a knowing wink before settling back to work. The knucklehead just gave his sensei an odd look, while the Uchiha could feel her pale cheeks turn ablaze with embarrassment. They talked for a while, before Uzumaki's stomach growled again to remind them the real reason they were all there. Kissing her on the cheek, he got up to get them lunch. Out of habit, Anju looked out of the corner of her eye to see if Hinata was okay and was glad to see she was having an intense conversation with Kiba to have noticed. Using the time efficiently, Anju caught up on all the gossip she had been missing with the Yamanka filling in all the missing details. Losing interest half way through, Anju's eyes wandered the room, familiarising herself with some of the faces in her diversion and trying to recognise others. Finally, she saw her boyfriend heading towards her, carrying two trays. His eyes were looking straight ahead, completely focus on something else. She waved to get his attention but to no luck. It was almost like he was hypothesis. When he got closer, she realised that he wasn't in a dreamlike state, instead it looked like he was concentrating on something very heard, as if he was trying to feel something that was not there. Taking a deep breath, to shout his name, the wind was knocked out of her as trays clashed onto the floor and flashed passed her in a blur of orange. The room had gone deadly silent.

Easing her breathing, Anju slowly turned around, only to witness Naruto holding a dagger firmly, pushing it further into a fellow shinobi's heart. Everyone was on their feet, surrounding him with their own weapons. Panic rose in Anju's chest, pushing herself through the crowd of people to get to him. However, as Anju pushed through the last barrier of the crowd, she saw that it was Jirayia and Kakashi who got their first. They stood in the middle of the empty space that the shinobi had left, wearying of the nine tail prison warden. Walking through the people, she positioned herself between the boys two sensei's, watching the scene carefully. Naruto didn't even bother to look around as he pulled the blade out, letting the man he had just stabbed slump on to the ground. But before the body hit, it transformed. The shinobi was replaced with a white clone. Everyone looked at it dumbstruck and could think of only one thing. They were in a shit load of trouble.

Naruto had finally got his wish. The kages had sent him to do something useful. They had him running around the complex doing security detail. Hundreds of his clones were on every level of the building, checking over every shinobi that walked by, keeping track of teams that went out and sensing them again when they came back in. Everyone was panicking. How long had the spy been in the hideout? Were their more? What information did he get a hold of? All accusing eyes had turned immediately to her. Sure! Pick on the Uchiha! Anju cursed to herself, after passing through the third security barrier that had stopped her because her 'schedule' looked out of place. When did running errands for your brother become suspicious! She moaned, hoping that her brother had not needed the diapers instantly, as men checked through them. Regretfully, the shinobi found nothing wrong and handed her stuff back, not even giving an apology. All Anju could do was give them all a death glare as she carried on her way. A few times a Naruto clone ran passed her and smiled. Coming to her brothers' room, she readjusted the box in her hand to knock on the door. Tadashi opened it instantly and pulled her in.

"Kami Anju! What took you so long?" He accused, as he went dashing around the room collecting things.

"Sorry." Anju answered, placing the box of supplies in the corner and went to sit by her niece, who was enjoying the toys that hung from the bar above her. One of them was a green turtle, which she recognised had come from Lee ages ago. "I got held up at the new security check points. My popularity had sunk back down to zero." She shrugged. But her explanation was ignored as Tadashi madly dashed around the room.

"Could you look after Tsunade for a while? I'm already late for a meeting." Her brother pleaded.

"You didn't need to ask." Anju countered, picking up the baby. Tadashi sent her a gratified smile before puffing out of the room. Why didn't I think of that? The Uchiha smacked herself on the head for being stupid. Little Tsunade soon put her out of her misery, as she reminded her aunt that it was feeding time. Now Anju had bigger things to worry about. Searching the fridge she was relieved to discovered three bottles of milk waiting for her. It took a while to get the kid to actually take the bottle but when the baby sensed she wasn't getting her mum's breast, she gave in and took the bottle. "Good girl!" She smiled, rocking the baby back and forth between her arms.

It wasn't until after the second feeding that one of Little Tsunades parents returned. Sakura came stumbling through the door in a rush, slamming the door shut behind her. Cautiously, Anju took three steps back. She would have to wait and see what mood the medic was in first before tripping the wire. Nevertheless, Anju was glad someone had return. The Uchiha was feeling tired even though it was only six in the evening, in fact she had been feeling like that for the last week. It was only when she yawned that Sakura seemed to pay any focus to the fact that her friend was actually in the room with her.

"What?" Anju questioned, not liking the worried look on Sakura's face.

"Thank Kami you're here Anju, we need to talk about your physical."

"Huh!" The halfblooded Uchiha replied, only able to catch the last part as the pink haired woman was talking too fast. "What about my physical?" Wasn't that like two weeks ago now? Anju wandered to herself, but could find the energy to investigate the matter now. The medic went rambling on about medical terms that the Uchiha was finding hard to understand for some reason. Right now, all she could focus on was going to bed.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sakura snapped, startling Anju with fright. She must have been sleeping standing up because she was having a hard time remembering anything the doctor had just said.

"No offense Haruno but can we talk about this tomorrow." Anju yawned, half of her words disappearing with the deep breath she took. The medic-nin seemed like she was going to exploded once again but suddenly stopped herself. Taking in her friend's action, the doctor assess the whole operation.

"Fine! But my office tomorrow! First thing." Sakura glared. The tired woman just nodded as she left, hoping the security checks would take a lighter touch on her this time.

They hadn't. Bastards! Anju cursed as she collapsed on to her bed. She had been stopped at all check points to her room before being given the all clear. From now on she was just going to stay in here until this entire situation blew over. That night she had a nightmare about Surin.


	38. OPPERTUNITY

**Opportunity**

Turns out the nightmare she had about Surin wasn't actually a nightmare; it was real. Of course, it took Anju a moment to work that out when she woke up in some dark place chained to the floor. The metal of her cuffs cut deep into her wrist every time she tried to move them. It honestly felt like she was attempting to lift a mountain with one hand. Think! She tried to tell herself but her mind kept during a complete blank. Now she wished she was some kind of crazy taijutsu expert like Lee or Gai so she would have had the power to lift her hands. She hated the fact that she would have had enough arm movement to preform hand signs but the weight around her wrists separated them. Her older brother seemed to take great pleasure watching her struggle with them, while the hidden figures in the shadows stayed emotionless. She guessed two of them were Sasuke and Madara but who was the third member. Was it the plant man that produced the white clones? After a quick evaluation, she turned against the idea. If this was the weird clone men then the outline of his figure would have been more obvious. All she could make out about this mysterious person was that they wore a black cloak. Glaring was the only defiant move she could think of at the moment. It made her stop feeling completely useless.

"I must say I was expecting a little more of a challenge." The shadowed figure hissed, a slick tongue licked his lips, as if he was looking at desert. Yuck! Anju thought, soon followed by anger as the words of the shadowed figure sink in. I'll show you challenging! The Uchiha thought angrily as her sharingan blazed alright.

Obviously, Surin had not been given any warning about the abilities that her eyes processed. He was looking right at her when the colour of her irises changed and was able to catch him instantly under her spell. Surin grabbed the sword from his back and back flipped into the air. He landed behind the three men and lashed his sword at them. They all jumped back effortlessly, keeping a wary space between themselves and the processed man. Using the imaginary strings she was using to control her brother, she made him attack the stranger first. She already knew about the abilities of the other two men. Leaving the third man last was too dangerous, his moves and thought patterns needed to be learned, she needed to know how he fought. Gaining information was the key ingredient right now. The third man was fast and slick, as he dodged the blade that continuously came after him. At the same time he was performing symbols with his hands and slammed his face into the ground. Hundreds of snakes appeared out of the grey smoke. What? Anju watched in horror as white snakes tangled around Surin, restraining his movement. There was only person who could do that! But… Orochimaru was dead. Then it had to be… Her thoughts were answered when the hood fell back and Orochimaru face was stitched onto somebody else's body.

"Clever little trick." Madara muttered, walking up behind the pile of snakes. With one smooth movement, snapped Surin's neck. Anju watched the body turn lump in front of her eyes. Now she hated herself. Anger made her blind to the fact that turning Surin on him could get her older brother killed. She tried to tell herself that he had tried to kill her, they he was a psychopath, that he sided with Madara and probably would have ended up dead on the battle field sooner or later. It didn't make the feeling of quilt disappear.

"You bas…" Anju never got to finish as Sasuke flew forward and snapped at the gentle pulse on my neck.

Anju would not give up. Knowing Naruto, she knew he would give himself up in a heart to save anyone, especially those closest to him. She liked to think sleeping with him counted for something. So she examined and planned. She went through all the con's and pros of the situation. What could she use to her advantage? However, her options were limited. Being blindfolded didn't help her situation. Now she wished she had kept her temper and kept her abilities to a minimum. At least she knew the third stranger was now Kabuto or was it Orochimaru? It was hard to tell. She had never met them as two separate people so she wasn't sure who played the more dominate figure of the shared body. Nevertheless, she would have to be wary of that snake, he was dangerous. In addition Surin was capitated. He would pose any serious threat soon; it helped to even the odds a bit. No matter how optimistic she was, there was no way she could take on all three of them. She would have to find some way of sneaking out. But that was also going to be hard, not knowing the arrangement of the hideout. But the texture of the surfaces gave away she was in some kind of cave. Which made her think maybe she was somewhere in the mountains, making her a little more hopeful about the situation. Diversion three had been forced to memorise the location they had been placed in and could imagine the scale model of the map clearly in her head. It was quite a distance between here and headquarters but it was better than not knowing how far. Every moment she spent alone Anju was planning. Working out every formula and situation that could happen. But what she really needed was opportunity.

Being covered in darkness seemed to make seconds turn into days, weeks and even years. Anju had to keep reminding herself that it was just panic and boredom that was getting to her. Ibiki would have had a thrill day messing with someone in her condition. The place was damp, feeling the moisture in the air begin to sink into her clothes. Great! Anju moaned, at the same time blowing a strand of hair out of her face, teasing her as it tickled her nose. She felt like a rag doll with her hands held down by a hundred tons on each hand. With one sense down, her other four were working overtime. That's how her finely tuned ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching. She tried not to move a muscle, even when she felt the fabric rustle with the movement of someone else's force.

"I'm going to remove your blindfold now. If I see your eyes turned red, I'll knock you out again." Sasuke hissed from somewhere in front of her. Anju kept her focused on what she guessed was the floor, remaining silent. If he did remove the cloth, she didn't want to be caught looking into his eyes and getting trapped in one of his genjutsu's. Silence followed. Then she felt movement behind her head, as Sasuke began untying the knot. The silk slipped from her face, allowing her to see the dim glow of the room again. It didn't take long to adjust to the light. One or two blinks sorted her out. But instead of looking at a dark floor, a pale chest stood it is place. Adjusting her eyes to look to the side, she tried hard not to look at any part of his body. "I can't feed you if you don't look at me." He stated, adjusting the tin plastic bowl and spoon. Anju did not budge. What he didn't know was that the Tsukiko clan was used to surviving on empty stomachs. She could go for months living on nothing. It was one advantage she had against them. She heard the rogue sigh and tried to feed her anyway from the acquired angle. Nevertheless, Anju kept her mouth clamped tight, even when the spoon was pushed firmly against her mouth and it snapped. Soup spilled down her shirt. At the moment, she felt so frustrated. She wanted him to go but he didn't seem in any hurry. His eyes burnt hard into the side of her skull, she could feel it piercing through her flesh bit by bit. Finally, the rogue ninja gave up and left.

But he was persistent. Twelve times he came to feet her. Since she had no clock to keep track of she used the meals to estimate the days. She guessed two meals a day. Enough to keep her full but enough period of time in between to play psychological tricks on her mind. Overall, she had been here for six days and counting. A part of her felt foolish for starving herself but she thought the act was too kind for Madara unless he had some alternative ends. The last thing she wanted was to be taking drugs. So for twelve meals they had been nothing but attempted feeding and silence between the two. Not even eye contact was made, even though Sasuke continued to take off the blindfold.

"Why do women have to be so troublesome?" Sasuke muttered, after another unsuccessful attempt at feeding again. Anju couldn't help but think of Shikamaru when he said that. "You'll never understand." He added, but it seemed like he was talking to himself at the same time.

"Yeah! Because Itachi really wanted you to destroy the village." She retorted sarcastically, low enough that dogs would have trouble understanding what she said. However, she hadn't anticipated how well Sasuke's hearing capabilities were and soon found her sword pressed tightly against her throat.

"Don't think for a second you know anything about my brother!" Sasuke hissed, pressing the sword so tightly against her throat that she could feel blood begin to tickle down her neck. For the first time, rage over took her body and without thinking, glared at him directing into his eyes.

"I know for a fact that he sacrificed everything to keep peace in the village and he let you live so you could redeem the Uchiha clan." Anju snapped back, sucking up saliva and spitting at him in the face. He didn't even flinch when the spit began slipping in front of his eyes, the sword still pressed tightly against her throat. "Looks like he was wrong! You're nothing but a spoilt child who's too proud to let his emotions help him to regain anything that's really worth living for!" Crack! The bone in her cheek cracked as the hilt of his blade slammed into her face. She bit her tongue to stop an agonising scream escaping. Despite the force of the impact, Anju kept herself upright, so she was still kneeling and not on the floor. Whatever happen she would take his anger. But she never got to find out. Sasuke had already left.

But he returned like clockwork. His face composed with a blank expression as he tried to feed her. This time she was determined to keep her mouth shut. Not only to stop herself from eating, but her jaw ached and it hurt to move it much. Eye contact remained to no availability, her head turning the furthest away from him that her neck would allow. He gave up quicker than usual, slipping the tray of treats away. But instead of leaving, he sat down in front of her and examined her carefully.

"I don't get it! Why don't you join us? Together we'll be able to repopulate the Uchiha clan and be the most powerful people in the world." The Uchiha argued, despite the fact his tone was low and normal there was something in the way he spoke that made her feel that he was actually serious.

"Are you kidding?" Anju snapped back, unable to control herself. "If Madara wins then it's not worth being human. Power wouldn't matter anymore and to force children to live in a world that they can't have freewill in is just not worth living."

"But in Madara's world there'll be no more suffering, no more war…"

"No more love, no more hope, no more happiness." She interrupted, finishing the list off for him. For the second time she found herself looking directly into his eyes. She wanted him know that she was serious, that what she was saying held meaning, more meaning then his deranged ideas about humanity should be like. "Even though we've made so many mistakes but at least we have emotions like love to help us out when we do. I know I wouldn't be alive if it didn't exist."

"Love?" Sasuke replied, testing the word on his tongue, his mind scanning his memories to remember what it meant. That's when Anju realised she was missing out on what she had been hoping for; opportunity.

"You know what else Sasuke?" She questioned, making him break his thought pattern and look at her, dull black eyes staring into her sharingan.

I hate mazes! Anju cursed as she battled her way from tunnel to tunnel. How did anyone make their way around this complex? So far she had found no one walking through the hallways with her. No Madara, no Kabota and no white clones. So where were they? She didn't need to wait long to find out. In fact she almost gave herself way when she turned a corner and found herself stepping into the middle of an opening. Quickly she dived for cover, praying that she hadn't caught anyone's attention. Counting to twenty, she risked looking up from her hiding spot. A figure sat in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a seal, which Anko seemed to be a part of. Bastard! Feeling her hand shake with rage as she tried to stop herself from grabbing her imaginary kunai pouch to attack with. She couldn't just jump out, Kabuto was smart and probably would of set booby traps protect himself. But at the moment his attention seemed to be preoccupied, hearing snippets of crazy talk, as he spoke to himself. She had the element of surprise on her hand though and she guessed the last thing Kabuto would expected was a massive fire ball coming straight at him. Performing the correct hand signs, she leapt from her space and fired straight at him. The snake felt it coming at him during the last second and was able to dodge. While all of this was happening, a million ravens flew out of Anju's mouth, swooping around Anko and disappeared out of the room, carrying the woman's body with her. Following, Anju shot another fireball at the ceiling of the cave. The hole room cave in, she just hope Kabuto was buried underneath all the rock.

She didn't take any chances. Using another fireball technique, she smelt the cave shut, hoping that if he was alive then this would buy them some time. The ravens worked behind her, gently dropping the jonin down and disappearing back into Anju stomach; now her mouth tasted of bird feathers. At first, Anju wasn't sure if the woman was dead. She was completely white and barely moving. A quick pulse check swooped away her fears as she felt a strong beat at the base of her temple. She was amazed to find Anko belt still attached to her body. Quickly, she searched each pocket, careful not to harm herself on any sharp objects the woman might have been having. Finally, she found some smelling salts. Please work! Anju begged, placing the object by the woman's nose. A sneezed and then Anko jerked up right, awake and dazed.

"Anko. Are you okay?" The girl spoke softly, waving her hand slowly in front of the females face to see how she would react. In response the woman snatched it tight and twisted it into a painful position. "Ow! Quit it woman before I knock your head off." She glared at the jonin who just stared back. Slowly, the woman did let go, allowing Anju to rub her swore wrist.

"What are you? My rescue company." The woman snorted, getting to her feet and stretching her sore muscles.

"Fellow escapee actually." Anju answered, though she was beginning to have serious doubts about helping this woman. "Speaking of which you wouldn't happening to know how to get out of he?" At this Anko smiled widely and gave her a thumbs up, performing a similar stance that she was used to seeing Naruto doing.

"You bet your ass I do!" The crazed woman beamed and started running off. Anju was quick to catch up to her, glad that someone knew their way through this maze. But to the Uchiha, it only felt like they were going deeper.

"What are we doing?" Anju called to the tomboy.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. First we have to save Yamato."

"Yamato!" She cried back, not believing her ears. "You're just telling me this now! Where is he? How did you know? What…"

"Hey I was unconscious not deaf." Anko shouted from over her shoulder. Speeding up so she was now running alongside her, Anju could see that the jonin face was deeply serious. "I'm not sure on the details but I heard that Kabuto creep that he needed Yamato to perfect the cloning machine."

"Cloning machine! What cloning…" Her voice disappeared, as the special jonin pulled down on her collar to hide. "Oh!" Was Anju's only response as she took in everything around her. Below them millions of white clones stood in a massive group, huddled together like a penguin breeding ground. At the end of the room, stood a massive statue, with two men embedded into it. Yamato she recognised immediately, the other she wasn't sure if she was looking at the first Hokage or that stress had finally got to her brain.

"Damn! There's no way we can just grab him and run." Anko hissed, punching her fist into the ground.

"Fine. You grabbed him, I'll barbeque these guys, keep them occupied while you get a head start." Anju answered, sneaking her hand into Anko's pocket and stole one of the woman's kunai.

"I like the way you think princess." Anko smirked before jumping into the shadows. The half breed Uchiha watched her progress as she got lower and lower among the cave hole. Anju adjusted her own position so that she was no standing at the far end of the area. The last thing she wanted was to burn her fellow ninja to a crisp; it would have been a useless plan if she did that. When Anko gave her the thumbs up, Anju's mind began performing the hand seals that Itachi had passed on to her. Amaterasu! The clone's closets to her had no chance as the black flames engulfed their bodies. Others were lost in a matter of seconds. Hopefully wiping out a whole white clone army would strengthen the chances for the Allied Shinobi Forces. "I'VE GOT HIM!" Anko shouted out to her.

"What about the First Hokage?" Anju could back.

"Got him too! And enjoying the view."

"What are you… Woo!" The Uchiha had to shield her eyes from the firsts junk. "Goodness sake Anko get him some trousers." Poor Yamato was so dazed, that he allowed Anko to touch him as she searched through his pockets.

"Good man Yamato!" Anko grinned, pulling out a scroll and using it to get a spare jonin uniform. The first seemed smart enough to dress himself or he was just terrified to let the special jonin dress him. That's better! Anju sighed when she risked opening her eyes.

"Let's get out of here." Anju ordered and with Anko taking the lead, they made their way to the exit. If only luck had remained in their side.


	39. FINAL CONFRONTATION

**Final Confrontation**

Everything had been going so well until this point. They were so close that they could taste the fresh air. Luckily, Anko had spotted the whole parade and had managed to stop everyone before slamming into the enemy. Damn it! The Uchiha resisted the urge to punch her fist into the ground, knowing that it could give away their position. They had the upper advantage at least, hiding behind the pointed rocks that block the peoples view from below but gave them a perfect bird's eye view of the whole area. Sasuke had woken up from Anju's trance and every inch of his face was covered with rage. As Anju had fear, Kabuto had escaped the cave but was holding a much more relaxed manor, compared to Sasuke's anger that seemed to be building more with impatience. Madara stood still on the spot, showing no emotion in his body language, all that they could tell was that he was waiting for someone to come through the front door. The four shinobi hiding above, could only give each other confused looks. There was no way they could exit the caves with the three of them below blocking the way. All they could do was watch and hoped they would move soon.

However, they didn't have to wait long and realised their plans were dashed when a long shadow approached from the door way. Kabuto and Sasuke were alert instantly, standing the ground just behind the man in charge. The group of four hiding behind the rocks, took more interest of the situation and attempted to get a better look at the oncoming figure that was coming inside, without giving themselves away. It was the orange jacket that gave up his identity. Thankfully, Anko has slapped her hand over Anju mouth before she could shout out his name or gasp.

"So the Nine Tail fox finally makes his stand?" Madara snarled at the blonde boy.

Naruto! You idiot! I wanted to scream out and almost did too if Yamato had not covered my mouth in time again. What was Naruto thinking? As powerful as he was, the knuckleheaded ninja did not have the power to take on three men that were just as equally powerful on their own. Anju could not help but blame herself for all this chaos. If she hadn't allowed herself to be kidnapped, the man she loved would not be putting his life on the line for her. For the moment all they could do was sit there and watch.

"I've come here like you said Madara! Now let my friends go!" Naruto commanded, word he spoke made the hair on Anju's body stand up, it sounded like he had matured greatly in the last few days.

"Don't play stupid with me boy." Madara hissed, whipping a kunai out from his pouch and toyed with it. "Besides, we know you have a much stronger connection with the female half-blood then just friendship." At this, Naruto's stance grew more defensive. Don't let them get to you Naruto, Anju pleaded, not wanting her lover to jump in to battle blinded by his own emotions.

"I swear if you harmed a single hair on her body, I will tear you apart." Naruto threatened, his voice low and full of anger.

"I assure you that your little lady is fine." Madara mocked him. "Sasuke has been taking an excellent care to her needs." Even though the message was true to a certain degree, the evil bastard had given it a sort of undertone to suspect there was more to it. Even from her distance, Anju could make out Naruto's fists, both clenching tightly that the sheer force to keep him in control was making his body shake. She glance at Anko and Yamato worriedly, hoping one of them come up with a plan to tackle this problem. But they just replied with the same looks, while the First Hokage's clone just watched on with great interest. Think Anju! Think! She tried to order herself but her mind was too panicked to come up with anything.

"Just give Anju and everyone else you have back Madara and I'll let you have the beast." Naruto stated, throwing his cards on the table.

"We have a deal." Madara smirked from beneath his mask and performing a few hand signals, wood broke through the surface of the floors and secured Naruto to the ground. "Sasuke, finish him." He ordered and without any hesitation, Sasuke charged.

"No!" Anju screamed, her sharingan activated. She moved fast. Faster than she ever thought possible, her eyes constantly keeping track of the sword that was aimed right at Naruto. Voices seemed to fall in around her, trying to get her to stop. But it was too late to make any other decision. She tuned out the other voices and focused one her one task. All she could make sense of was putting herself between her beloved and the katana.

Everything seemed to stop all at once. It was one of those few special moments in the world were time actually stood still, so everyone had a chance to take in what had happened. Even Anju wasn't sure what was going on. She just stood there, looking into the eyes of Sasuke Uchiha, who only stared back without a single emotion on his face. It was only when she coughed up her first mouthful of blood did everything begun to make sense. Gravity returned back to the world and pulled her slump body down, not giving her any kind of safety net, as she fell face first on the hard ground. Anju could feel her life supply slip out of her body as she watched helplessly from where she lay, as a pool of her own blood surrounded her. A monstrous roar filled the room, making the ground shake. Rocks came falling down from the ceiling, one or two almost smashed into her. Naruto had lost his grip on the beast and had let the Kyubi take full control of his body.

It was the opening Madara had been waiting for. Without any control of the beast, Madara was free to use his Sharingan on it and pull the fox to his control. The fox was ripped Naruto's body and now stood under Madara's firm hand. Naruto's body, fell still right beside, his face pale as death.

What's happening? Anju tried to make out, as a cool sensation began to courses through her veins. She could feel her life returning to her. How is this possible? Anju debated, she tried to fight against it, she just wanted to be with Naruto now. But whoever was doing this refused to give up and she opened her eyes to be staring back at the clone of the First Hokage, Sasuke's sword in one hand and a glowing green hand on her chest.

"You can still save him!" The Hokage spoke once he realised she was awake, helping her to sit up and placed the katana in her hands. Anju was suddenly distracted but the smashing of swords and turned to see Anko and Yamato fighting against the rest. A sudden grip on her shoulders make her turn around to stare back into the dark eyes of the man. "Listen to me Anju, you've got to use your sharingan to free the Nine Tails away from Madara, then I can transfer him into Naruto, the foxes healing abilities will save him." Hearing this, Anju turned all her attention on to Naruto, still seeing he hand resting against his neck. She touched it, only to feel a weak pulse in return. He's still alive! Anju wanted to cry out in joy but knew if she didn't do something soon that she would loss him forever. Getting to her feet, she turned to see Anko and Yamato fighting of Sasuke and Kabuto, while Madara just watched the scene from the top of the fox's head, laughing his head off. I'll give you something to laugh about, Anju cursed, as she put her mind to work.

It was now a battle for dominance. Activating her Sharingan on full power, Anju gripped the mind of the Nine Tail Fox and started pulling it away from Madara. But Madara wasn't a powerful ninja for just any reason. As soon as he felt his grip on the demon begin to weaken, the Uchiha strengthen his grip and began to fight back. For once, Anju felt sympathy towards the Nine Tail Fox. She could see it being torn apart, as they fought for the beast. I can't fail! I won't fail! Anju kept chanting to herself over and over again. But no matter how hard she pushed herself, their grip on the beasts mind remained equal. Thankfully, she had an unexpected card hidden away. No matter how much the Kyubi hated being controlled, he hated Madara even more. It had come out of nowhere, the rage that suddenly appeared almost shock Anju into losing her grip. All of it was directed at the Madara and with the foxes fighting will power on her side the grip loosened.

"No!" Madara screamed, as all control was lost. Acting quickly, Anju passed on the foxes control to the first Hokage, who performed the proper hand signs and sealed the demon back into Naruto. Suddenly, the whole room blazed alight and Naruto was standing in his full glory, power flowing off him in massive tidal waves.

But the battle hadn't finished yet and Sasuke activate the power of his susanoo, which seemed to rival Naruto's own influence around them. Jumping back to a safe distance, Yamato and Amko placed distance between the new monster that had formed in front of him.

"Somebody better have a plan!" Anko shouted back to the group, as her eyes were focused on the dark demon that now surrounded Sasuke.

"I do." The First Hokage called out and everyone turned to him. "Anko and Yamato, you take Kabuto. Anju! You and I will finish off Madara. And Naruto, we'll leave Sasuke to you." Even though he was a clone, it didn't stop the effect he had on everyone else. The self confidence her had and the way he held himself just showed authority flowing off him. Anko seemed happy with her assignment.

"That snake is going to regret facing me." Anko smirked, a long slender tongue licking the top of her lip. "I can already taste the humiliation coming from him." She run off with Yamato following close behind, not giving any indication that he was worried about his teammate's dark humour. They found Kabuto, disappearing further into the caves, at the same time Sasuke was performing his first attack. The three remaining shinobi, jumped into the air as a black ball of fire came finally at them. Even with a great distance when them and the attack, Anju could still feel the heat against her skin and had to close her eyes in order to focus. They hide among the rocks around the ceiling, watching Sasuke carefully.

"Madara's getting away!" Anju cried out, when she spotted Madara through the darkness.

"Go! He's your target; I'll take care of Sasuke." Naruto yelled at her, jumping over to her as he dodged another fire ball aimed his direction. Standing next to her, Naruto didn't waste time, pulling her lips too his and kissed her deeply. They only parted when they felt the flames of a second attack aimed right at them, jumping out of the way just in time. "I love you." Naruto breathed, allowing Anju to pull him into one last kiss.

"I love you too." She replied, before running into the darkness of the cave with the Hokage running beside her.

Despite what Anju first believed about the tunnelling system of the hideout, the system was less complex then she had originally feared. They headed down the tunnel where Madara had disappeared off to, led only straight. There was no left or right to spilt up in. It led right back to where they found Yamato and the clone last time. The monstrous statue still towered over them in its spot, with Madara sitting on top of it.

"I'll admit, I underestimate you little girl." Madara mocked relaxing a little too much for Anju's liken. Why do I have the feeling we've just stumbled into a trap? She wondered, sending the First Hokage her thoughts. Judging by the expression on his face, he was having similar thoughts. "But let's see how you deal against seven demons!" He screamed, placing a seal on top of the statue that cracked open the lock. Oh crap! Anju cursed as seven tailed demons appeared in the room.

"Madara you coward!" Anju yelled at him, while barely surviving a drilling air bullet from the sand jinchuriki.

"Anju! Go after Madara!" The clone ordered, looking up, Anju saw that he was making another run for it. "Anju! Go! I'll deal with the tail beasts!"

"But…"

"JUST GO!" He shouted, as he summoned branches from the ground to tie up two tailed cat that had been charging towards him. But Anju wouldn't listen. All she could see was seven demons charging at both of the all at once. No one could survive that. Instead her eyes changed into Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan, and summoned the Amaterasu flames again. It stopped the charge, as the black flames heat lick and bit the skin of the bests, even the three tailed demon was having trouble getting past the fire, his water ball having no effect to extinguish the flames. Again the two shinobi jumped to higher ground, to avoid the hunger of the flames. Sending charka to her feet, helped her to keep secure. She could feel the blood rushing to her head and her hair obscured some of the view below. Thankfully, the fire was not high enough yet to affect her in a series matter (or made her scared enough to fear her hair being caught on fire) but she was still able to watch the beasts fight against the flames, expected for the two tailed cat demon who had managed to free one of her paws from the tree bark and was cutting the rest away. Apparently, they hadn't noticed their escape yet.

"I gave you an order." The First Hokage snapped at her.

"You're forgetting I'm still half Uchiha, we're not meant to be good at following people's orders." She tried to joke but the clone didn't think it was funny. "Besides, did you really think I was just going to let you fight those things by yourself." She added, which in her defence seemed like a reasonable argument but the Hokage just looked angrier but he didn't follow up on it.

"Let's go, we need to find Madara." He ordered and followed Madara once again into the tunnels.

But this time Madara hadn't planned on running. She had been surprise at how fast he could move as he jumped out of nowhere and kicked her hard in the stomach. The wind was knocked to her as she went flying to the opposite side of the wall and slammed into it with such force that she was stuck. The clone came to her rescue as he forced the mask man to move away while Anju peeled herself away from the wall. With the First Hokage fighting close quarters with the enemy, Anju could not risk any long-range attacks and wanted to preserve her charka. With her sharingan activated, she moved in close, studying the movements of the two men. Stepping between them, she blocked a high kick aimed to the Hokage's face, only to phrase through arm. Damn! Anju cursed, her mind working overtime to plan a strategy. If she kept attacking him, then her attacks would just pass through his body. Instead, she would have to let him attack her, hopefully if she got the timing right she would be able to land a hit on him. But even with her sharingan's help, it was hard to keep up with his movements. If the First Hokage hadn't placed and wooden wall between her and Madara, she would have had his arm ripping through her chest.

"Thanks." She called over to the clone, flipping back over to him.

"I have an idea." The Hokage muttered under his breath.

"Great! Let's hear…" Before she had time to finished, they found themselves diving to safety from the overwhelming heat of a fire released jutsu. Once again, Anju found herself retreating to the safety of the mountains natural defences. "Talk fast, I don't want to be on the end of another damn fire ball!" Anju cursed, trying to hide the fact, she was a little afraid that Madara had suddenly turned defensive.

"I have a technique that could blind Madara, it would limit the ability of his sharingan."

"I have a feeling there's a 'but' in this?" Anju addressed, peeping from their cover to see Madara searching intently.

"I'm not as strong as my original form, so it would take me some time to perform the technique and…" The Hokage paused, re-thinking his plan again, as if he was trying to find a different way but judging his knotted frown, he was not having any success. "You'll be blind as well." It wasn't the most comfortable plan that she was comfortable with. As thought through this, she suddenly started laughing. The clone just looked at her like she was mad.

"Trust me, you don't have to worry about me." Anju grinned, pulling out her katana, she grabbed the end of her shirt and sliced a bit off, wrapping the material around her eyes. "I learned how to take care myself without the use of my eyes."

"There won't been any warning, just make sure…"

"I buy you enough time and take him out fast, got it." She insisted, giving him a blunt nod to where he was kneeling. Anju didn't jump into battle instantly, instead, she used her sense to lock on the environment around her, adjusting to the sound and smells, getting a feel of the place; not to mention zoning down on Madara's charka signal. You want a show Madara? Anju grinned to herself as she performed the proper hand seals. Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique! As her mouth swelled up with heat, she leapt backwards and falling head first to the ground, blew fire at him. Fire balls, flew all around Madara, who danced around every attack. She was annoyed none of them hit them but then again they weren't really meant to. Madara came running straight for her. But there was something different, he was holding something that was cutting through the air. Fuck! Anju cursed, as she pulled Sasuke's borrow sword out and block Madara's katana.

She didn't know and she didn't care where he had got the damn weapon from. All she cared about was she had blocked the attack before it took off her head. She jumped and cut off every attack her threw at her.

"What's with the blind fold little girl?" Madara mocked. "Eye's gone blind already." You wish! The Half breed Uchiha wanted to snap back but withheld herself. Block after block, she began to get a sense of how he fought. But she was stupid enough to concentrate on his sword movements that she had not been prepared for a full kick into the stomach. Anju felt herself flying, with only the sound of her crashing to the floor to notify her that she had landed on the ground.

Nevertheless, as she rolled across the dirt she hung on to her sword. She could feel him rush towards he, imaging his blade raise to deliver a damaging blow. Without thinking, she performed the hand seals that she thought she would never preform.

"What is going on?" He cursed, as the wood continue to wrap itself around him.

"Oh just a little experiment Tsunade wanted to try out." Anju grinned.

"_You really think this will work?" Anju questioned in the training grounds, standing between Yamato and the Lady Hokage. _

"_We have to try." Tsunade encourage, her jacket hanging from her shoulders as the sun's rays burned down on all of them. It had taken her some time but the blonde had finally had the courage to read through the diary. Not that Anju had much of a say in it. Itachi had explained everything to the Hokage while the Uchiha was in a coma and could not stop her own curiosity in understanding what had happened between her father and his ex-team mate. "You share the First Hokage gene's! You might be able to conquer the technique." The Hokage explained. Sighing, Anju knew there was no way of getting out of this._

"Turns out the old woman was right!" Anju smirked.

"Doesn't matter." Madara retorted and Anju could feel the impulse of charka flowing through his veins as he forced his body to phrase. "What the…" The warmth from the atmosphere suddenly died away. The Uchich didn't waste time. She stuck hard and fast. Splat! Something hot splattered onto her but it was still too dark but Anju still couldn't see a thing. Even when she felt the enemy's charka slowly disappear, she didn't dare to believe it.

"You can take off the blindfold now." She heard the First Hokage speak, suddenly feeling his presence next to her. Doing what she was instructed, the sun light illuminated the area, allowing her to fully take in what had happened. Thankfully, luck had been on her side. The sword had jammed itself through the left eye socket and was aligned upwards head straight into the brain. A merciful killing, better then he deserved. But it had all been about speed. Adjusting her senses early had given her the spilt second reaction she needed to kill Itachi. That and his shock of becoming blind had given her those few special seconds to deliver the fatal blow. Despite all the charka she had used, she still forced herself to summon the black flames one more time to truly burn his body into oblivion. There was no way she was going to risk anyone resurrecting him.

"Let's go and find the others." Anju commented, both of them stared at the black burnt patch on the earth surface for a few seconds before they began their search.

"Naruto!" Anju cried out when she finally found him. His clothes were shredded and his skin looked battered in places but the main thing was that he was alive. He handed a wounded Yamato over to Anko, so he could embrace his lover in a long kiss. Even with the snake lady making gagging noises in the background, Anju believed it was the best kiss she ever had.

"Took you guys along enough!" Anko snapped when they had finally broken apart. "We finished snake face ages ago! And spent the remained of our time trying to find you!"

"What… what about Sasuke?" Anju dared to asked, twisting Naruto's face into a bitter expression.

"I finally realised Sasuke was just too dangerous to risk anyone else's life." He muttered, tears dripping down the side of his cheek. Anju tried to sooth him, knowing that her beloved would not of done something like this if he didn't have to. "He threaten to make little Tsunade his slave Anju, I couldn't let that happen." The man she loved was falling apart right in front of her. All his training to save his brother had been a waste of time to him.

"You had to do it Naruto, I know it's hard but his soul was too broken to be fixed." She tried to insist. The rest of the group watched silently as the scene unfolded before them, unsure with what to do. Finally, he was able to pull himself together.

"You're right! No matter how much it hurts, I had to do it." He pulled her into another kiss, she could feel his need flowing off him in waves. "I'm just glad it's finally over." He whispered.

"Over! Are you kidding? Do you know how much paperwork this is going to be?" Anko shook her head in disbelief. Despite everything, all of them couldn't help but laugh.

"I can just imagine the forms we'll have to sign." Yamato smiled weakly. "Not to mention the fuss the tail beasts will cost, they're still trap inside by the way accept the two tails, that's escape."

"Not to mention me." The First Hokage clone gestured to himself.

"Don't worry! No matter what happens we'll help you." Naruto grinned, giving the clone a thumbs up and the rest of them giving a firm nod to support it. It was hard to say, but by the small expression the clone let slip for a second he looked quite touched.

"Come On! Let's go and tell everyone it's over." Naruto smiled, leading the way back. Ready to tell everyone that the war was over.


	40. EPILOGUE

**Epilogue**

"Come on Naruto! That wax is going to melt all over the cake if you don't hurry up!" Anju shouted to the knucklehead as she adjusted the settings of the video recorder to get a wide view of the living room. Naruto cursed at the fifth match he was still having trouble with. He gave the wooden stick a death glare, almost like he was trying to threaten the non-organic object to work. Finally, he gave up and chucked it in the bin, grabbed another stick from the box and tried again. With her job done and seeing that he was still failing, the Uchiha decided to step in. Pushing aside random blue balloons and orange wrapping paper that had sent their room into havoc, she pushed her lover away and unhitched a burning candle, using it to light the remaining candles. Finished, Anju beamed proudly at her handy work. She had spent hours preparing the triple chocolate deluxe and if she said so herself looked amazing; hopefully the rest of the clan would feel the same. Sneaking up behind her, Naruto wrapped his arms around the woman's waist and cuddled her tightly.

"It looks amazing babe." Naruto whispered into her ear, planting a sweet kiss on the cheek.

"Should do! Took me years to perfect this recipe." The half-blooded Uchiha huffed, remembering the site of chaos earlier when she had been in the middle of making the damn thing. Naruto only laughed at her frustration and placed another kiss on her skin, somehow calming her nerves down.

"At least we have the emergency cake for another time." Uzumaki laughed. Anju stared at the so called 'emergency' cake and stuck her tongue out at it. Take that stupid back up cake! She mentally thought, not wanting to show her lover that she was crazy, though after all these years he should have picked it up by now. "Now! Now! Let's not take it out on the pudding." The blonde tried to serene her. Thinking about what he said, she decided she could let it go; for now anyway. A party popper went off in the other room, making them jump but soon relaxed when laughter and cheers soon followed.

"Sounds like we're missing out on the fun." Anju stated, grinning as she saw children dashing around the room. Spinning her around on the spot, the Uchiha found herself staring back at her man. Even at the age of thirty, his looks had made her heart melt. He still had his boyish charm about him, even though his childlike features had developed into a mature defines that made him an identical twin too his father; especially dressed in his Hokage robes.

"Who says we're not having any fun?" He smirked, kissing her hard on the mouth. Her heart did a back flip; just like it did the first time he kissed her and seemed to showing no signs of stopping. Forgetting what was happening around them, she returned the kiss eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Eeeewwwwww!" The echo of children sounded from the door, making the couple stop what they were doing and turned, only to see them all run off. Probably going to complain to their parents about the horrifying scene they had just witness between the grown-ups. Both of the adults chuckled at their own expenses.

"Kami! I'm a lucky man." Naruto smiled, as he raised her left hand and kissed it softly. The ring on her wedding finger got caught in the sunshine, droplets of light printed itself among the kitchen walls. The diamond had a silver and golden band woven around it, making it look like a growing bud. Her husband's own band wasn't as fancy, just a strip of gold and silver smelted together. Twelve years. Twelve years of marriage, peace and friendship among the five nations. Nevertheless, the shinobi nation did not disappear; they were still kept busy by the bandits, warlords and criminals that still wondered the lands. Still! With the alliances among the other villages, they weren't much of a problem.

"Will you two hurry up?" Sakura cursed, popping her head around the frame of the door, using her other hand to protect the bump of her stomach. "Everyone wants to sing happy birthday." Remembering their duties as parents, Anju snatched up the recorder, while Naruto took charge of the cake, carrying it carefully. Their old friend was kind enough to dim the lights a little, announcing to the rest of their guests that it was time to sing to the birthday kid. Stepping back, Anju got a full sweep of the room, catching all the families' guest in one smooth movement. Sakura re-joined her family, smiling as she knelt down beside her youngest child, ten year old Reika, who had inherited her mother's famous pink hair and large forehead, just like her older sister Little Tsunade, the oldest of the children among the group, her luminous eyes framed by dark curls. Supporting a steady arm around his wife's back, Tadashi's eyes smiled, as he hugged his family close, grey hair shown in his sideburns. Standing next to them stood the retired fifth Hokage, still holding on to her youthful appearance but had allowed her age to merge into its late thirties.

Jirayia stood tall and proud next to her, his voice carrying the loudest of the notes. Standing next to him was his adopted son Nagato, his parents had been Rain ninja and also friends of Jiraiya, they had been killed in the war and the boy had no one else, so the toad sage took him in, saying he reminded him of a group of former students he had taught once. He still travelled the world to keep the spy network up but visited home more frequently.

Kakashi stood the furthest away with his wife Shizune, it had taken him some time (not to mention a lot of threatening from both Tsunade and Sakura) but he had finally got up the courage and asked the doctor out. They were married a few months later, after Tsunade placed Shizune as the head of the hospital and the copy-nin got promoted to Jonin Commander after Shikaku retired. This was soon followed by the birth of their three year old twins, Obito and Rin, who were now huddled between their parent's legs.

Jin, Gai and their son Lee, stood next to his prodigy ex-student Lee and his life partner Hansuke (that's another story) all of them were near the front, enjoying the glorious moment of youth. Cuddle up in Lee's arm was their adopted baby boy, Genji, who had suspiciously bushy eyebrows?

Itachi was in the middle, standing beside his eight year old son, Sasuke and trying to keep his best friend JJ (Jiraiya Junior) from fighting. Catching her son's eyes, Anju sent her eight year old son a warning look. JJ just shrugged and performed his father's famous mischievous grin, spiky black hair stuck up in all places. It was a sign that he would be good for now and whatever the children had been fighting over suddenly disperse; both boys gave each other a fist bump and joined in the celebration. Itachi made a big sigh, glad that the two trouble makers had ceased bickering for now. He made eye contact with Naruto and the Hokage just shrugged, as if to say 'hey we used to fight like that and we turned out okay' the Uchiha would just give up, a small smile spread across his face as he shook his head.

Hinata and Kiba stood to the left of the room, surrounded by their many dogs and children. Their three boys, Mamoru, Bishamon and Ryo howled with their dogs to the song. They must off been very loud because Hinata had to try and settle the sleeping child in her belly, this time it was going to be a girl. With their family was Neji and his lover Tenten, both now ANBU captains, though Tenten was on recent maternity leave, she wasn't happy about it, saying it was sexist, despite the fact she was five months along.

Shino stood in the darkness, it was hard to see if he was joining in or not with his giant coat covering his body. His son, Joji, looked like he was joining in because of the bouncing dance moves he was doing.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, sat on the edge surrounded by their children. Shikamaru and Ino sat closely together, their arms wrapped loosely around each other, with their children Asuma and Yoshino sitting by the feet, apparently, little Yoshino was not happy that her twin brother was not joining in with the singing because it was too troublesome. Choji's son, Choza was munching away at a bag of sweets.

In the centre of the room, was the birthday girl herself, five year old Kushina's purple eyes bugled with delight when she saw her birthday cake approach. Her oldest brother, Minato, snuck up behind her and heaved her up on to his shoulders, so that she could get a better look. Minato looked the same as Naruto did at his age; obviously another ghost replica of the deceased fourth Hokage was growing in another Uzumaki ancestor. Zooming in on the two of them, JJ wiggled his way through the crowd and stood near the group, getting on to his knees, so that Minato could stand on his shoulders, making the three Uzumaki children look like a human totem pole. Everyone laughed at the display, but the children were no match to their fathers height, who still towered over them. Just as the crowd finish with the last sentence, Kushina closed her eyes tightly and with a massive intake of breath, blew all of the candles out with one sweep. Passing the camera on to someone else, Anju went to join her family in the middle and kiss each other her children on the cheek. The whole group was never happier and they were sure that their adventures were not over.

**THE END**

**Thank you so much for everyone who has read this story and liked it. Your reviews and adding this story to favourites have been wonderful and I wish you all the best.**

**Love xUnicornRulesx**


End file.
